Gundam Seed Ragnarok
by JediMasterDraco
Summary: The war ended, but it was but time for the fighters to catch their breaths. three winters have come and gone since then and now the final battle has arrived. What causes people to fight? The full fury of this answer shall be unleashed through the desire to defend and avenge. Earth's final battle has come. A rewrite of Gundam SEED Destiny.
1. Phase One: Launching

**This story is dedicated to my grandfather who passed away on November 12, 2016. Rest in peace grandpa, see you in a few decades.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SEED Destiny. And since this is only the first chapter, I've yet to come up with a witty comment about this.**

Phase One: Launching

Two things guaranteed that Lieutenant Alfrid Dreka wouldn't be getting anymore sleep that night. The first was an increase in the loud droning in the other bunk of his quarters. Said droning came from the gaping mouth of Dearka Elsman.

"Damn it Dearka! Would you shut the hell up already," the exhausted pilot snarled, having been drifting in and out of consciousness all night thanks to the dulcet sounds of his roommate's snoring.

Finally giving in to his sleep-deprived temper, Alfrid picked up his pillow and tossed it with all of his Coordinator-enhanced strength. It also helped that ZAFT-issue pillows weren't exactly clouds. A loud thump filled the room and annoyed grumbled followed as the tanned blonde found himself being rudely awakened by the roommate he had been giving a private concert to.

"Alfrid, what's your problem?" he yawned sitting up and leaving the room in relative silence.

"Your snoring is enough to wake up Junius Seven," the younger pilot pointed out with a small scowl.

"Yeesh, everyone's a critic. Miriallia never complains."

"First off, I don't want to hear about the details of your sex life," Alfrid rattled off. "Second if she didn't complain, she's either the nicest person on earth, or completely deaf."

"Neither, she just sleeps like the dead," Dearka shrugged.

"Still doesn't explain why you never woke her up," Alfrid deadpanned.

"Ha, ha."

Then the second sleep prevention kicked in as a sudden scream rent the air and caused both pilots to turn their attention to Alfrid's wall. Or rather what was beyond the wall.

"Huh, five o'clock already," Alfrid remarked not even fazed by the desperate wails.

"You ever think about showing compassion?"

"Considering Shinn's so full of hot air when he's awake that he could power this ship? No. Besides sometimes the way he carries on, you'd think he was the only one who lost family in the war."

Shaking off the reminder of first his mother's and unborn sisters' and then his father's deaths, Alfrid climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. He ducked into the shower and relaxed for about ten minutes before stepping back out. With a yawn he gazed at the mirror and found one dark blue eye and one emerald green eye staring back at him.

At about five-foot-six, he was fairly short for an eighteen-year-old male Coordinator, but he was still tall enough to pilot a mobile suit. His brown hair was so dark that many thought it was black. Like most Coordinators, his skin was fairly pale, owing to the lack of natural sunlight in the PLANTs.

After a brief inspection for facial hair, Alfrid dressed himself in his flightsuit undergarments and crossed back into the room. Dearka didn't appear to have done much more than sit-up and yawn, but for all Alfrid knew he might have found a cure for being a jerk. Given that Rey Za Burrel wasn't in the room as a test subject he highly doubted it though.

"Anything on your schedule for today?" Alfrid asked his roommate as he got his red flightsuit out.

"Probably just annoying the happy couple," he answered finally getting to his feet.

"Somehow I doubt the 'happy couple' will be overly pleased with that idea."

"Their loss."

"The only loss around here is likely to be your head if you piss off the commander," Alfrid rolled his eyes.

Alfrid opened the door and proceeded to navigate himself down to the hangar of the _Minerva_ , ZAFT's newest warship, due to be formally commissioned the next day. Its crew was drawn from both from a handful of veterans of the Bloody Valentine War and the best of a new wave of volunteers that had emerged with an increase in tensions between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance, and the Atlantic Federation in particular. Less than a week ago those had only mounted when a group of religious fanatics associated with Blue Cosmos had attacked ZAFT's San Diego base.

Lost in thought, Alfrid soon found himself gazing up at his mobile suit, a ZGMF-1001 ZAFT Armed Keeper of Unity, or ZAKU, Phantom. He privately thought that there was at least one person in the military with way too much time on their hands. While veterans from the war often customized their suits to fit their personal fighting style, this was much rarer among new pilots. But having served as his father's mechanic, Alfrid knew his way around modifying a mobile suit and was fairly knowledgeable about where and how to get supplies. The main difference between his ZAKU and a factory-fresh model, was the shields that could either stay mounted on the shoulders or be wielded like normal shields. They also weren't the type of shield usually equipped to a ZAKU; instead they were self-made combinations, forged between the standard-issue shields and those scavenged from scrapped GOUF Ignited prototypes, meaning they carried the GOUF's composite beam swords in addition to the ZAKU's beam tomahawks. He also added the beam claw emitters of a first generation GuAIZ's beam shield. The second major modification was the addition of four beam sabers stored at the waist and capable of pairing off and forming extended double blades. While Alfrid's piloting and shooting skills were a little above average, he was incredibly gifted at melee combat, having actually defeated Yzak Joule in one memorable simulation. Admittedly that had been a combination of luck and his modifications. His final obvious modification was more for his aesthetic sense, having shaped his ZAKU's head into something reminiscent of a dragon, admittedly it had proven to be more streamline than previously.

"Hey kid, heading out?" the ship's chief mechanic, Commander Aves, inquired as Alfrid rode his suit's zipline up to the cockpit.

"Yep, I just want to make sure everything is in tip-top shape for the launch tomorrow."

"You and everyone else. Hell we could probably launch today and go straight into a battle."

"Let's hope not, the only Gundam we currently have on board is Shinn's Impulse. Odin help us if we have to depend solely on him."

That got a round of chuckles ringing around the sparsely occupied hangar.

"I'm guessing you'll want a Wing Wizard Pack today."

"If you don't mind," Alfrid nodded as he sealed his cockpit and brought the mobile suit online.

"Hey Alfrid heading out," the cheerful voice of First Lieutenant Meyrin Hawke asked.

"If you don't mind Meyrin."

"You're the pilot."

While Meyrin went through the pre-launch checklist, Alfrid gave a cursory glance of his controls, running a couple of randomized tests to ensure everything was functioning normally. Finally the launch signal snapped him out of his reverie.

"Course clear. ZAKU Phantom, launch."

"Alfrid Dreka, ZAKU Wyvern. In to the sky; to live, or to die!" With a shout of his father's former launching confirmation, Alfrid zoomed out of the _Minerva_ 's port catapult.

"Quit calling it that," her scolding pursued him.

"We have over thirty ZAKUs onboard. I'm just trying to minimize the confusion."

Alfrid would always love the Wing Wizard Pack because of its ability to grant atmospheric flight. The fact that it also came equipped with two railguns was a nice bonus addition to his armament since they were useful at a myriad of ranges and didn't require his mobile suit's hands.

"Right let's start off testing the latest modifications with some basic maneuvers and go from there," he muttered to himself as he arrived at the test field.

* * *

Making her way down a zero-gravity connecting corridor in ZAFT's Armory One PLANT-type military colony, Cagalli Yula Athha took several deep calming breaths in anticipation of her meeting with the Supreme Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council. She knew from various diplomatic reports that he was a canny politician, a breed of human that she had grown to hate since taking office almost four years ago. She could only hope that he would be at least moderately honest with her.

"Please tell me that you brought at least one dress with you."

Directing a scowl over her shoulder, Cagalli let her ire show at her bodyguard Athrun Zala, known to the majority of the world as "Alex Dino", who was currently examining the burgundy suit of an Orb government official that she was wearing.

"What's the matter with what I wear?" she demanded. "Don't you think this is good enough?"

"It's not that," he backpedalled, trying to escape her infamous temper. "But there is a high probability of being invited to that banquet to celebrate the launching of the _Minerva_. Unfortunately ZAFT is relatively archaic in that even the highest ranking women are pretty much required to favor dresses over uniforms."

"OMNI's the same way," another voice chimed in, "at least it was before our… disagreement."

Cagalli now directed her attention towards her second bodyguard, the former Earth Forces ace and current Orb Union Military Flight Instructor and Test Pilot, Captain Mwu La Flaga.

"I'm just saying Princess," he remarked with a careless shrug as he demonstrated his unique ability to withstand her withering gaze.

"Whatever," she snapped. "I have my dress uniform as head of the Orb armed forces, so that should be enough for them."

The two male pilots exchanged glances that spoke volumes.

"Look, don't pretend to be someone you're not," Athrun began hesitantly. "But a little bit of acting and tact never hurt. Especially since we'll basically be accusing them of violating the Junius Seven Treaty."

"Humph," was the only response.

As the trio and their escorting ZAFT officers entered an open area, they received their first look as the _Minerva_. Like most warships, it was a single-hulled vessel with the bridge rising out near the engines. There wasn't much else to see because the view was greatly obscured by a large crowd of ZAFT personnel and civilians. Snatches of conversation drifted up towards them, with many of them unfortunately showing the casual prejudice that was still exhibited in the PLANTS, despite the four years that had passed since the Bloody Valentine War.

They arrived at a lift that would take them down to Chairman Durandal's temporary office, where Cagalli hoped that they would at least begin a preliminary discussion. As they descended the two Naturals gaped in wonder at the natural beauty that had somehow been replicated, even in a colony primarily devoted to military production. Cagalli glanced briefly to her right and saw a nostalgic look on Athrun's face. She felt a pang of sorrow, recalling his unofficial banishment from the PLANTs in the aftermath of the Bloody Valentine War.

Finally their ride came to an end and they were escorted into a relatively modest building. They were marched through a series of security checkpoints before finally being admitted to the Chairman's office.

"Ah, Princess," a black-haired man in a white, purple, and black coat with a red diamond in the center greeted them. "How nice it is to finally meet you. I've heard great things about you, many from my predecessor, Eileen Canaver. I'm glad you accepted my invitation to tomorrow's ceremony."

"Chairman Durandal. I'm also grateful, it gave me the opportunity to talk to you personally," Cagalli returned, suppressing her irritation at being addressed as "Princess".

"You honor me Princess. May I enquire as to who the gentlemen escorting you are?"

"My bodyguards, Alex Dino," she paused minutely, hoping the next name would not provoke any incidents, "and Captain Mwu La Flaga."

The name of the former Earth Forces Ace indeed sent a ripple of surprise through the ranks of the Chairman's staff, but his only action was to offer a smile.

"One of Earth's great war heroes, a pleasure to meet you," he greeted offering his hand.

"Thank you Chairman," Mwu acknowledged taking the Chairman's hand.

Suddenly a mental flash echoed through his mind, eerily reminiscent of the feeling he always had whenever Rau Le Creuset was near. The Newtype Sense, Reverend Malchio had claimed, an ability to anticipate attacks and even sense others with the ability. Fortunately his military training allowed his body to go through the motions of shaking hands, while his mind pondered what it could mean. The Chairman's lack of a reaction had him convinced him that the politician wasn't the source of the mental echo, but that left the question of who was.

"Your war record speaks for itself Captain La Flaga. The only survivor of the famed Moebius Zero squadrons. A crewman aboard the invincible _Archangel_. And the pilot of the Strike after it's defection from the Earth Alliance."

"You flatter me sir."

"You deserve the praise Captain. Few men are willing to fight against all they've been taught in the name of an ideal. But I'm afraid further discussion will have to wait in favor of your royal charge. Tell me Princess, how is Orb recovery from the Oceania War?"

"Rebuilding is almost complete. In fact the majority of the remaining damage is from the Atlantic Federation's Invasion during the Bloody Valentine conflict," Cagalli replied recalling the Second Battle of Orb that had begun after the Republic East Asia had refused to pay a sizable debt it owed the Orb Union and had instead declared war.

The Republic of East Asia had called in an even larger debt that the Atlantic Federation owed, accepting large amounts of military surplus, in particular mobile suits, as payment. They had even built a squad of five deadly Gundams. The massive invasion fleet had set sail with every intention of conquering Orb.

But for them, things went horribly wrong. Orb had managed to begin production of the Murasame transforming mobile suit, a model that was still considered the technological equals of ZAFT's ZAKU Phantom. Combined with Cagalli's personal Gundam, the Strike Rouge, and the original Strike, these new forces mounted a series of raids that chewed up the attacking force before it even had a chance to make landfall. And when the invasion force arrived at Orb itself, the nation unveiled Flight Rotor Shriker-equipped Astrays that intercepted the mainly ground-based East Asian mobile suits as they were being deployed. A series of climactic dogfights saw Cagalli defeat two of the four enemy Gundams, with the others being defeated by Athrun, flying a customized red Murasame, and Mwu in the Strike. Once the ace pilots' machines had defeated their opponents and joined the general melee, it was over. The East Asian armed forces were decimated, suffering more than seventy percent casualties.

The loss was a total humiliation, costing them most of what respect the "little brother of Eurasia" had possessed. The treaty forced an even greater debt on the country, rigorously enforced by a seething Atlantic Federation and leaving what had formerly been the richest member of the Earth Alliance on the border of impoverishment.

"I must say Princess that your accomplishments in both a mobile suit and in ruling your nation astound me. I would be lying if I said I did not envy you to some extent."

"Thank you Chairman, but if you don't mind I would prefer you use my proper title or at least 'Ms. Athha'."

"Very well, Chief Representative."

His voice was perfectly measured and gracious, but four years of political clashes with the Seirans allowed her to pick up the slightest edge of condensation. She clutched her hand in to a tight fist, but released in with her next exhalation.

"But I understand the PLANTs have also prospered in these peaceful times."

"Yes they have, but I personally dedicate much of the groundwork having been laid by Chairwoman Canaver," he shrugged waving an idle hand.

"That's nice. But I also understand the PLANTs have seen problems with the Zalaist movement."

Out of the corner of her eye, Cagalli saw Athrun give an almost imperceptible wince. The anti-Natural movement formed from his father's supporters was a sore subject for him, taking the words Patrick Zala had roared in the grip of his deepest malice, and expressing them, often violently and remorselessly.

"I'm afraid you are correct, but the group has seen a fair decline of late, mainly because of purges in the military structure to guarantee that there are no incidents with the nations of Earth. But I'm afraid this little greeting must come to an end. If you do not have a previous reservation in any nearby hotel, I insist you stay here. We can always continue this discussion tomorrow before the launching ceremony."

"Thank you, we will take you up on that offer," Cagalli accepted.

"In fact why wait until tomorrow? We are having a celebration to mark the official commissioning of the _Minerva_ , I ask you to attend as my guests. There will be a number of council members, but the majority of the guest list consists of the ship's officers and pilots. In fact, you are acquainted with several of them I believe. Yzak Joule, Shiho Joule, and Dearka Elsman."

Athrun started at the mention of his former teammates, but managed to disguise it as a light cough.

"We would be happy to come."

"Excellent, I'll have someone escort you to appropriate quarters where you can unpack and prepare. The celebration itself will start in about four hours, but guests will likely start arriving sooner than that."

"Thank you Chairman."

"That went almost too well," were the first words out of Mwu La Flaga's mouth as soon as they were secured in their quarters and Athrun had swept for bugs.

"Agreed, do you think he knows what you want to talk to him about?" Athrun asked turning towards Cagalli.

"Maybe about the Orb refugees, but I don't see how he could know about what you overheard last night."

The previous evening, Athrun had gone down to the bar of their hotel, where they were staying under assumed names, and had overheard several ZAFT officers talking about a nuclear-powered mobile suit, supposedly named the Legend. But nuclear-powered mobile suits were expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Junius Seven along with other specific weapons such as N-Jammers and their Cancellers and the application of Mirage Colloid in stealth technology. And ZAFT was already testing the limits with a whole host of Gundams based on the Heliopolis series that the Le Creuset Team had stolen during the previous war. According to the official Gundam registry, an international committee set up to monitor the production of the especially powerful class of mobile suits, the redesigned mobile suits were designated Diamond Strike, Ruby Aegis, Sapphire Duel, Emerald Buster, and Onyx Blitz.

"Well, there's no sense worrying about it now," Mwu commented. "Let's just get ready for this little party."

"Agreed."

"Oh, alright," Cagalli grumbled. "I'll bring up the refugee situation during dinner though."

"That may actually work," Athrun said, struck by inspiration. "You could ask to talk to them tomorrow and while you are in the shipyard, you can mention the Legend."

"Very well. Now if you two don't mind leaving so I can get dressed."

"I don't really see the point in asking him to leave considering that neither of you would probably mind the view…"

"OUT!"

Both males scrambled out the door, the Lioness of Orb's temper fully roused.

"Why exactly do you feel the need to do that?" Athrun asked as the door slid shut behind them.

"Just checking to see how ready she is for tonight's publicity stunt. I hate these kinds of things."

* * *

A black ZAKU Wing Phantom came screaming out of an eighty degree dive and leveled off less than two hundred feet above the ground.

"Well that was enjoyable," Alfrid Dreka laughed as he exited the training grounds and headed back towards the _Minerva_. "Let's see, energy expenditure down approximately three percent from last Tuesday making for a cumulative drop of seventeen percent overall. I think that's as good as I'm gonna get without taking off a few chunks of armor."

Over a year serving as his father's mechanic during the Bloody Valentine War had given Alfrid an instinctual feel of exactly what parts of his mobile suit could be changed to improve its performance. However, he was barely competent enough to rewrite his o.s., which was why he constantly had Lunamaria look at it after he was done with any adjustments whatsoever.

As he moved back towards the _Minerva_ , he realized that in his rush to take out his mobile suit for a run, he had forgotten to use deodorant. Meaning that his flight suit smelled like a herd of elephants. Which meant he'd have to take another shower, leaving him with an ever-shrinking window to get into his dress uniform.

"Hey Alfrid, cutting it kind of close aren't you?" Meyrin's cheerful voice came over the comm.

"Tell me about it. I have to take another shower and then get into my dress uniform."

"Good luck doing that in the thirty minutes you have until everyone has to be ready to go to the banquet hall."

"Mock my failings," he sighed dramatically. "Keep that up and I won't bring you a souvenir."

"No need I'll be there myself," she countered effortlessly. By that time Alfrid had slipped into the hangar and was preparing to dock his mobile suit. "Shinn invited me as his date."

Alfrid let out an annoyed huff at the mention of Shinn.

"Don't you dare say anything about him. Luna's been giving me an earful since we started dating, but he's not that bad you know. He can be really sweet when he wants to be."

"I'm not going to say anything because I'm not your brother: but that also means I don't have to like the guy or even tolerate him. Besides, you don't have to fly with him."

Resisting the temptation to make a comparison to bees and honey, Alfrid powered down his ZAKU and opened the cockpit, quickly rappelling down.

"Hey Vino, Yolant," he called across the hangar to the mechanics on duty. "Mind giving my ZAKU some juice and making sure nothing's gonna blow up."

"Sure," Yolant replied with a nod, knowing that Alfrid regularly did his own maintenance unless he was in a hurry. If nothing else they owed him the countless hours they would have been working on it if the pilot hadn't used to be one of them.

Without another word, Alfrid rushed out of the hangar and hurried down the _Minerva's_ well-lit corridors. His progress was relatively unimpeded until he found himself flying backwards and colliding head-first with a wall.

"Hey what's the big idea?" an outraged and familiar voice demanded.

Alfrid blinked away an onslaught of dizziness and looked in the direction of the complaint to see his friend, fellow pilot, and amicable ex-girlfriend, Lunamaria Hawke, Meyrin's older sister, rubbing her shoulder which she'd landed on after their collision.

"Oh gods. I'm sorry Luna. Are you okay?"

"Peachy."

Alfrid took a quick stock of both of them to see if they were both unharmed and realized that Luna was wearing a nice indigo dress that complimented her magenta hair. Fighting back a blush, he opened his mouth and voiced his opinion.

"You look very nice. A neat idea combining red and blue."

"Thanks, I think. Meyrin helped me pick it out."

"I guess this is why sisters are so trustworthy."

"Yeah. Hey you aren't planning on wearing that to the party are you?" she gestured up and down to Alfrid's dirty and sweat-stained flightsuit.

"What? Oh, crap. I still have to change I'll see you later." With that Alfrid was once again heading full speed for his room, only to berate himself for not helping her up. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, he ducked into his quarters and pulled his red dress uniform out of his closet.

With a self-satisfied smiled, Alfrid hopped into the shower and quickly ran the water over his sweat-stiffened skin. A quick scrub of his hair and he was back out, cramming on his under clothes. With gentle reverence, he spread out his new dress uniform and slipped it on. Perfect fit. Gazing at himself in the mirror, Alfrid hoped that while feasting away in the hall of Valhalla, his dad still had time to look in on him and be proud.

* * *

Yzak Joule was in a relatively decent mood as he inspected the assembly of Red Coat pilots (and a couple guests) before him. Only one of them outside his command crew had any combat experience in a mobile suit, but overall they had some skill and could one day be a veritable threat on the battlefield. As it was, he was just hoping they could get through the evening without incident. He noted Dreka entering the assembly room with less than perfect punctuality, but he would let it slide. Once. The next time he'd be on KP duty for two weeks.

"Alright everyone, the Chairman has invited the _Minerva_ 's officer corps to the celebration of tomorrow's launch. You will be eating dinner with the political elite of the PLANTs so you had best be on your best behavior. Asuka, I've been informed that Chief Representative Athha will be dining as well."

The hot-headed young pilot, who gave Yzak an uncomfortable feeling of familiarity, instantly turned stormy at this revelation. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"I don't and I don't care. But whatever your opinion of Orb is, if you embarrass ZAFT tonight I will personally ensure that the Impulse is scrapped and that your first combat launch will be outside of a mobile weapon. Am I understood?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"The proper response is: Yes sir."

The Impulse's volatile pilot looked like he would rather eat dirt but his girlfriend's restraining hand seemed to cool him down enough for him to out his next words out through gritted teeth. "I understand Commander."

"Good."

"Watch out folks. Yzak's death glares can make you wish GENESIS was aimed at you."

"Shut up Dearka! If everyone is done with their stupidity, move it!"

The _Minerva's_ Red Coat contingent tromped out of the ready room and proceeded down the straight hallways to one of the exit hatches. They made their way quickly down the gangplank and boarded the two military transports that had been requisitioned for their use. He and his command crew boarded the first one while the rest boarded the second.

Dreka immediately got out his datapad and appeared to be making last minute checks to their supply manifest. The younger man had shown a fair amount of skill with logistics at the academy. Along with prior experience serving as a member of his famed father's maintenance crew and his contacts on the ZAFT supply black market, he made an obvious choice to serve as the unit quartermaster. He was also known for minding his own business unless you annoyed him.

Dearka, for his part, appeared to be sleeping. His friend had had a rough time upon coming back into ZAFT, even with the backroom deals Yzak had cut while filling his mother's shoes on the PLANT Supreme Council. Fortunately, he was well-admired by the new generation of pilots for "doing the right thing" and had reestablished himself as a Red Coat by going through the academy's accelerated program.

Finally he looked over at the seat beside him at the transport's fourth passenger and his companion for the evening. His wife, Shiho Joule. Part of the deal he had cut that had given his mother a limited prison sentence and rehabilitated Dearka was his marriage to his closest genetic match. Fortunately that had turned out to be Shiho Hahnenfuss, a skilled pilot who had transferred to the Le Creuset team in the aftermath of Operation: SPITBREAK. She had honestly impressed him with her abilities, culminating in the destruction of one of the Earth Alliance's Extended pilots and going toe-to-toe with the Freedom at Jachin Due.

While their wedding had been a relatively private affair, he knew full well that they were under strict observation by the council. Their status as third-generation Coordinators meant their odds of having children were predicted as very low, but still higher than several other projected couples. It was hoped that if they could prove their fertility, then there would be hope for Coordinators. Of course he knew full-well that they would not be the first parents to a fourth-generation Coordinator.

Lost in his thoughts, Yzak was jarred back into reality by their transports coming to a stop outside a relatively lavish building. It appeared that the celebrations had already begun, with the view in the windows looking warm and comforting.

"You coming dear or heading back to the ship?" his wife teased with that smirk that in equal parts infuriated and relaxed him.

"Funny."

The four members of the command crew disembarked and their fellows followed from the second shuttle. Taking a deep breath, Yzak led them up the stairs and into the ballroom. The _Minerva_ 's top officers were mingling with various PLANT politicians and ZAFT officers. He even saw a member of the Eurasian Confederacy diplomatic corps talking with a Supreme Council member. A good sign if one was interested in peace, something Yzak had grown appreciative of after he realized just how far he had fallen during the war.

But the biggest surprise was waiting for him at the table reserved for his pilots. Miss Representative herself was sitting in one of the chairs, dressed not in a ballgown as most of the traditional members of the military would have preferred, but in her official uniform, indicating her position as commander-in-chief of the Orb Defense Forces. On her left was the ever-smug Mwu La Flaga, an arrogant smirk already gracing his face. The second bodyguard was harder to place, at first. When he did, it took all his willpower not to smack himself in the face. Despite the dye-job, the colored contacts, and a few cosmetic adjustments, he recognized his old comrade, Athrun Zala.

"Chief Representative," he greeted extending his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dearka and Alfrid subtly placing themselves between the Orb ruler and his most reckless pilot. The last thing they needed was to cause a diplomatic incident with one of the few countries that had never had a desire to nuke the PLANTs.

"Commander Joule, it's been awhile. Nice to see you again Shiho. You too Dearka."

"Princess," Dearka greeted with a smirk and was rewarded with a wrinkling of her brow.

"Cagalli," Shiho greeted warmly, giving her a brief hug. The two women had built a friendship over the years of peace since Yzak had inducted her into their informal group, bonding over the latest mobile suit designs and enjoying friendly debates over the merits of various Gundams.

"Allow me to introduce my bodyguards. Captain Mwu La Flaga and Alex Dino," Cagalli said gesturing to La Flaga and Athrun respectively.

Yzak rolled his eye briefly at the idea of anyone being named Alex in their day and age. It was pretty obvious to him why she had brought along the Natural ace. She was hoping to use him as a distraction, with Athrun hiding in the shadows. By the looks of stunned adoration on his pilots' faces, she was succeeding.

"A pleasure. The pack of half-trained idiots behind me are supposedly ZAFT's pride and joy."

"Alfrid Dreka."

His quartermaster saluted smartly, but he also saw that the younger man was practically bouncing on his toes at being introduced to a hero of the Bloody Valentine War.

"Lunamaria Hawke."

The _Minerva_ 's sole female Red Coat, aside from Shiho, appeared to be torn between saluting like Alfrid or extending her hand. In the end she just straightened and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Sean and Dale O'Conner."

The arguing carrot-haired twins spun towards their commander, narrowly avoiding clunking heads. They gave brief waves of greeting then went straight back to whatever inane subject had gotten their interest. The pair were eternally frustrating, but in combat, they had a level of synchronization that could surprise even a veteran.

"Samuel Barthrop."

An older Coordinator saluted crisply, before turning to try and break-up the O'Conners' spat. He was one of the oldest people to ever graduate the ZAFT pilot academy, but even in his mid-forties, his abilities were unquestionable.

"Adrian Sharp."

The most diminutive of the Minerva's pilots, standing at a bare four-foot-nine, gave his usual happy and honest smile. Normally, Sharp was the kind of person who Yzak would call a little too cheerful, but since the fifteen-year-old didn't have a dishonest bone in his body; not to mention the worst poker face in the unit; he tolerated the boy.

"Gregory Benedict."

The second choice for the Impulse gave their visitors a welcoming smile and went to help Samuel. Truth-be-told, Yzak would have preferred that the dark-skinned man be given the Gundam on account of his more controlled nature, even if his discipline off-duty was lax even by ZAFT's standards.

"Chris Barton"

The scarred veteran nodded his head in acknowledgement. Although only a year or two older than Yzak, he looked closer to his late forties, a side effect of the wounds that had left him unable to talk with the mechanical implant. Of course, he rarely used the device outside of the simulators.

"Elard Keyes."

The _Minerva_ 's youngest pilot glanced up and went right back to fiddling with his pocket knife. At only fifteen, his age would have prevented him from graduating, were it not for his skills in a mobile suit. However, losing his entire family at Junius Seven hadn't done many favors for him. Yzak was just hoping that when the midnight blue-haired pilot did act out, it would cause little harm.

"Rey Za…" the name died in his mouth as he realized that both Rey and Shinn were on the opposite side of the room. On the one hand, it was nice to see the Red Coat keeping his friend's infamous temper from exploding. On the other, he felt like strangling the both of them for leaving without giving proper notice.

His anger must have been pretty plain to judge by Shiho and Dearka's muted laughter. He even saw Athrun's lips form an instinctive smirk. The worst part was he couldn't even yell at the bastard without blowing his cover. Something that was inadvisable considering he was still wanted by the PLANTs. Ostensibly, it was for treason. In reality, the Zalaites saw him as a traitor to his father's mission while the moderates saw him as Patrick Zala's son. Either way, Athrun's life was virtually forfeit if he came back to the PLANTs.

Apparently feeling he had suffered enough, La Flaga stepped forward with a broad grin. "Well I'm hungry, let's get down to eating."

This statement was agreed by a small chorus of cheers and the pilots sat down.

Yzak had the "pleasure" of sitting next to his old comrade and got a good look at him. It was probably only thanks to the fact that he had known Athrun from childhood that he recognized him. His hair was dyed and styled so that he looked more like the princess's brother. The contacts were a nice touch, changing his eyes to only a blue-green instead of trying for a completely different color. There was even a fake scar that, combined with something in his cheek, looked like it could fool most facial recognition scanners. Overall, it was a good disguise.

"Oh, I'd be careful if I were you Miss Representative, Alfrid here is liable to start kissing the ground you and Captain La Flaga walk on," Lunamaria spoke up from the other side of the table.

"Shut up Luna," the quartermaster growled, turning crimson in a heartbeat. "Just because I admire their skills as pilots doesn't mean I'm devoid of sense."

That merely provoked a round of chuckles at the table. Athrun however looked curious.

"Dreka, as in Kevin Dreka?"

"Aye, my father," Alfrid nodded with obvious pride. "He ended up biting it at Jachin Due. A nuke got past the Freedom and the Justice and nearly hit Marius 5. His weapons were out of power and he had to ram it."

"I'm sorry," Athrun bowed his head, a brief look of regret passing over his face at the thought of him and Kira failing.

"I'm not," Alfrid smirked. "He went out exactly how he would've wanted: With the biggest bang possible. And with one of the largest kill counts in ZAFT despite being a Natural. If the gods are kind, he'll be waiting for me in Valhalla, seated at the table of the All-Father."

When asked what he meant, Alfrid gave a brief explanation of his family's traditional religious views before rising from the table to go refill his drink and managing to face-plant himself via his chair.

"Ya know, for some called a Coordinator, you have really bad balance. By my count that's the second time you've tripped today."

Alfrid muttered something about ballet before a smile broke over his face. "Alright then Luna, if I'm such a klutz then obviously I need someone as skilled as you for a dancing partner later."

Now it was the redhead's turn to blush, letting out a strangled sound that Alfrid took as a yes.

"Okay then, I'll request something special when the music starts up." With that he turned and strode off towards the refreshment stand.

Realizing something he had forgot, Yzak rose to follow him.

"I'll be right back," he excused himself. "Dreka!"

Alfrid turned back to his commander at the sound of his name and slowed so Yzak could catch up. "Commander, I'm assuming that you're not following me to make sure I'm not dying of embarrassment."

Ignoring the joke, Yzak fixed the younger man with a stare. "I've just been informed that myself, Shiho, and Dearka will not be at tomorrow's launch ceremony."

That bit of info took Alfrid off-guard and caused him to stop in his tracks for a brief moment.

"As the unit quartermaster, you'll be in command of the _Minerva_ 's pilot compliment until we return."

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"We'll be assigned to the _Voltaire_ and we'll be taking the Sapphire Duel, Ruby Aegis, and Emerald Buster to give them some real field testing. At least that's what the Captain will write in the report as to why they aren't loaded onto the _Minerva_."

"Sounds like a plan. When do you ship out?"

"Oh-eight-thirty."

"Pretty early considering the party is supposed to go on till two in the morning."

"Lieutenant-Commander Joule and I will be retiring after dinner and Dearka will most likely be drunk. Consider returning his sorry ass to sleeping quarters to be your first assignment as unit head."

"Yes sir," Alfrid acknowledged, saluting Yzak and returning to his former task of getting a new drink.

* * *

Shinn was grateful to Rey for finding them a seat at the head table with Captain Gladys and even the Chairman, himself. Although if he was honest with himself, he would have preferred sitting with the Eurasian Confederacy diplomat instead of with _her_. He had lost his entire family because of the Athhas' hypocrisy and he was glad that at least the so-called _Lord_ Uzumi had perished for his stupidity. They prattled on about Orb's ideals of peace, but the two Athhas had vastly expanded Orb's military, especially in the years since the Bloody Valentine War.

His hate filled thoughts were jarred away by Rey nudging him in the side to get his attention. He realized with embarrassment that Chairman Durandal himself had been asking him a question.

"I'm sorry Mr. Chairman I wasn't paying attention."

On the Chairman's other side Captain Gladys was rubbing the bridge of her nose at Shinn's lack of attention, while Vice-Captain Trine looked about ready to explode. Fortunately the Chairman gave an understanding smile.

"Of course, I could understand how someone could have other thoughts with all of the excitement over the past few days. You are the pilot of the Impulse correct?"

"Uh, yes Mr. Chairman."

"A marvelous machine from what I've been told. Rey tells me that you are an exceptional pilot. I hope to see great things from you."

"T-t-thank you sir," he stammered, overawed by the praise from the head of the council.

"Ah speaking of great things. Princess, thank you for joining us."

Shinn's good mood evaporated in an instant, his face losing the bashful red and going stark white with barely contained rage. It must have shown on his face because Rey placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Don't embarrass the Chairman," his friend quickly whispered. Reluctantly, Shinn took a deep calming breath and restricted himself to simply staring at the woman whose father had let his parents die. Ready to snap at her if she crossed any line whatsoever.

"Chairman, thank you again for inviting me," the blonde bitch returned.

"Yes well, it would be a shame for you to miss this little get-together when you have a number of friends attending."

"Yes, it was thoughtful of you. I haven't seen them since their deployments to Carpentaria ended. I also wanted to speak on a certain matter and felt it would be more appropriate in a less formal setting than our brief meeting earlier."

Shinn let out a low snort. So that's why the commander had been such a hardass. Turns out he was buddy-buddy with Orb's little princess. He had thought the no-nonsense officer was a better judge of character. Or at least someone who wouldn't be able to stomach that worn-out line about Orb and her so-called ideals.

"Oh, what is it?" the Chairman asked, looking quite curious as to what Athha wanted. Shinn didn't really see why he bothered.

"The matter of Orb refugees living in the PLANTs, among them several Morgenroete engineers and designers."

Shinn just rolled his eyes at that. He and everyone else from Orb were lucky to be living in the PLANTs instead of existing under the Athhas' tyranny. The debacle with East Asia was proof enough that the country was far from safe.

"Ah, I suppose you resent that we are using them in our own mobile suit industry."

"Among other things," Athha tersely replied.

Shinn was about to snarl at her that anyone was better off in the PLANTs than living in Orb when an elbow subtly nudged his ribcage. His platinum-haired teammate shook his head and glanced deliberately back to their table. Shinn nodded, anything was better than sitting and listening to that damned woman.

* * *

Athrun watched the two ZAFT pilots walk away from the table. They were the two that Yzak had obviously meant to introduce but hadn't been able to. Privately, he thought that was for the best. When he and Cagalli had first arrived at the high table, the black-haired pilot had flashed a terrible and potent look of pure hatred at Cagalli, something that made Athrun fear that he would have to step in. But it was his friend who had truly begun to unnerve Athrun.

The younger man had managed to control the other pilot merely by placing a hand on his shoulder. He had then proceeded to glance at Cagalli as though trying to judge if she was a threat or not. But what had unnerved Athrun the most was the way he had stared intently at him, as though he was able to see through the levels of his disguise and knew exactly who he was. Those icy eyes had caused his skin to crawl in ways that he hadn't felt since he last saw his old commander. When he had directed the other boy away from the table, Athrun nearly let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Instead he released it subtly in measured bursts. Alex Dino had no reason to be nervous.

"Well Princess, it is necessary for these people to earn a living. It is best if they use the skills they are most proficient with. They have obviously felt the desire to stay in the PLANTs and they must be able to provide for their families."

Athrun turned his attention to Cagalli's and the Chairman's conversation. He honestly didn't like the man. He was almost too perfect, too cultured. Even the media of the Earth Alliance had very few negative things to say about him. He should have been a welcome respite for Cagalli from dealing with the Sierans. But almost every word out of the man's mouth seemed calculated, as though he were a chessmaster planning for a checkmate that could come from anywhere. Or maybe it was just the eyes.

Like Cagalli's they were a golden brown, rather subtle for a Coordinator. But while Cagalli's were a warm brandy tone, the Chairman's eyes were closer to frozen metal. At first glance they seemed almost wolflike, an idea emphasized by his face and bearing. Observant, proud, distinguished. But the more he watched, the more they seemed more sly and calculating, like a serpent's.

"Agreed, but there are disquieting circumstances that make it seem as though you are committing industrial espionage. I've had the data analyzed by a trusted source and the coding of the operating systems for your new GOUF line and that of the Coordinator-variety Murasame o.s. are virtually identical."

"Oh. Truly? In that case you have my sincere apologizes, no offense was meant towards you or your government. If you would like, I could have the persons responsible brought to justice."

"No, if it as you said and this was done as a means of providing for their families. However many of the refugees that fled to the PLANTs have family members who have since returned to Orb. A large portion of these people have made protests that their relatives are being kept here against their will."

"I promise you Princess that is not the case. I have heard of the rather harsh repercussions that the Atlantic Federation was forced to undergo to compensate those Orb citizens that were captured and enslaved for all intents and purposes. I would be a great fool if I allowed such a thing to happen by even the most remote definition."

' _More like you would be a great fool if you were caught,_ ' Athrun thought. While it was true that there had been no outcry in the communications between the Orb citizens who had returned and those that were employed in the PLANTs, that didn't mean they weren't being discouraged from leaving.

"Of course Chairman. Considering how captured Coordinator civilians were often used as slaves by member of the Earth Alliance, I doubt such a thing would occur. Nonetheless there is still the issue of how their families do still represent a vocal minority within Orb. I would like to be able to prove to them that their loved ones are free to come and go as they please."

"That is a splendid idea Princess," Chairman Durandal complimented with that odd half-smile he seemed to be always wearing. "In fact, I could easily arrange a trip to the production facilities tomorrow. Would ten hundred hours be an acceptable time for me to send for you?"

"That would be just fine, thank you."

"Then I feel it is best that I retire for the evening. I look forward to tomorrow and diffusing this situation without any problems."

The Chairman and a number of his staff rose from the high table and proceeded to exit the ballroom, exchanging pleasantries along the way. Cagalli let out an exhaustive sigh and leaned back in her chair.

"You did well," he complimented under his breath.

"I don't know. There's something going on here that I didn't like. Is it possible that Orb's refugees really do wish to be here?" she asked, weariness etched in her every word.

"It wouldn't be the first time refugees preferred settling and staying in the country they fled to," he pointed out.

"I know, but I feel like he caved in too easily. And it felt like he was holding something back in that conversation."

"Perhaps we should leave as well," he suggested, noting how her eyes were already half-closed.

"In a little bit," she waved off his concern. "I want to talk to Shiho for a while. Maybe I'll convince Mwu to get into a drinking contest with Yzak."

Athrun smirked at that. His old friend and comrade's uptight nature was in sharp contrast to the laid-back attitude of the former Earth Alliance ace. But both had been extremely competitive in a series of mobile suit simulations they had challenged themselves with in the aftermath of Jachin Due. This had eventually expanded to the point where if anything could be a competition, they would make it into one.

* * *

Luna had been more than a little starstruck at seeing such figures as Cagalli Yula Attha and Mwu La Flaga, but she hadn't gone pure fangirl as she probably would have before being assigned to Commander Joule's unit. Being around war heroes tended to help inure you to other war heroes. Of course, she had teased Alfrid knowing that her ex would take things in stride like he usually did.

Of course, the majority of her focus was on her little sister, who looked more than a little bummed out. She was sipping a glass of club soda with her chin resting on her hand. While Meyrin had come as Shinn's date, it appeared that he had abandoned her. Of course, she was torn between being pissed over this, and being glad he had skipped out before being introduced to Attha. The chances of an international incident would likely have been quite high in that situation.

As glad as she was for Meyrin starting to come out of her shell for something besides gossip, Luna wasn't really thrilled with her choice in boyfriend material. She could admit that Shinn was capable of acting mature and that when he was in a genuine good mood, it tended to relax everyone else. She'd even credit her sister's argument that he wasn't bad looking and had a cute boyish smile. The problem was that he didn't show that part of himself with any real frequency. He was so angry all the time that it was constantly setting the rest of the pilots on edge. His only real friend was Rey, and probably only close with Vino and Yolant because he spent so much time working on the Impulse's systems. He'd occasionally join the group's various card games and sometimes attend karaoke night; but for the most part, he was a loner. Given that his family had died right in front of him, she couldn't blame him for having problems. All the same, she wished that he wasn't apparently at the top of her sister's boyfriend-material list, even if she had seemed to have helped him mellow out a bit.

Or maybe she was just frustrated with her own lack of dating prospects. Given that ZAFT had its origins as a largely volunteer, if well-organized militia, there weren't a lot of stiffening regulations of the kind that had resulted in OMNI having little flexibility. Chairman Durandal's reforms had shaken a lot of branches, but relationships within the armed forces, at least at the lower ranks, hadn't been affected. This was in part because of the population issues. Of course, no one was exactly making goo-goo eyes at her. Greg was obsessed with keeping his piloting skills in tip-top shape, hoping to be assigned a Gundam one day; the twins were too busy fighting with each other or pulling pranks; Elard made her even more uncomfortable than Shinn; and Rey seemed more like he was made out of glass than flesh. She had gone out with Adrian, but they really had nothing to talk about. The majority of the green suits were put-off by her redcoat status and the various other components of the _Minerva's_ crew ran in their own circles. The only other person of her age and rank that she knew with any familiarity was Alfrid. And given that he was her ex, she felt that they were probably a little too familiar with each other. Outside one or two heavy make-out sessions, they hadn't been all that physical, and their break-up hadn't left them with any baggage, but she wasn't comfortable being alone with him.

Shaking off her inner thoughts about romance, she noticed Shinn heading towards Meyrin. She had a brief impulse to go over there and give him a few choice words, but her sister's rather joyful expression (that did slightly dim when she saw Shinn's scowl) stopped her. Shinn however, did relax at the sight and began ideally chatting with her, a small grin tugging at the side of his mouth. Luna let out a small huff. Meyrin saw Shinn as something resembling a hurt animal that she might be able to help make better. And unfortunately, she seemed to be proved right at times like these.

"You don't approve."

The neutral monotone nearly scared her right out of skin and she whirled around and would have collided with Rey had he not deftly half-stepped backwards, not even blinking at her sudden movement. She wondered what in the heck was up with the other boy sometimes. He usually expressed the same emotion as the average teaspoon and always seemed to move very deliberately without any effort whatsoever. She wasn't making android comparisons like Sam often did (in vain attempts to loosen the blonde young man up), but at times she really did wonder.

Without even waiting for her response, Rey continued. "I agree with you, it is not a good idea."

Luna opened her mouth to snarl a defense of Meyrin, but Rey seemed to be thinking outoud as much as he was speaking to her. "Shinn cannot afford to be distracted."

Now she was more than a little outraged. While she disapproved of Meyrin and Shinn being together, Rey's statements were annoying her. Honestly, 'Shinn cannot afford to be distracted,' what was wrong with him.

"What's the matter Rey, afraid she'll steal your friend right out from under you?" a teasing voice came from behind them.

"More like he's jealous. Maybe he wouldn't be so uptight if he actually got laid," a second voice chimed in.

Luna began rubbing her brow as a pair of carrot-tops strode up to the two observers. For his part, Rey sent an icy glare at both of the twin pranksters. He had held a grudge against them ever since their murderous pranking spree the previous April to celebrate graduating. Luna personally though most of their pranks were hilarious; even some where she had been the victim like when her coffee had dyed her teeth blue. Though super-gluing the Le Creuset mask to Rey's face was going too far in her opinion. Even with the twins pointing out how similar their hair color was.

Comparing someone to a psychotic mass-murderer who had sought to cause humanity to annihilate itself was seldom a way to make friends. Though everyone had laughed themselves sick after Dearka had a full-blown freak-out upon encountering the masked Rey.

Fortunately, it seemed that the twins were merely passing by on their way to harass said dark-skinned blonde, who was a favored target of theirs owing to how good-naturedly he took their pranks (especially the ones that he suggested and was then the victim of).

As they walked away, Rey returned to staring at Shinn and Meyrin who were now dancing with many others. Sure it was somewhat sloppy, most likely because Shinn had never really paid all that much attention to their less combat-oriented lessons at the academy, but it was still sweet. Though Luna was more occupied by hoping the intensity she almost felt coming off of Rey was more to do with the twins than anything directed at the young couple. She contemplated his statement from earlier and shrugged it off. Even with the slight escalation in tensions it wasn't like they'd be at war the next day.

* * *

Several hours later, the celebration had started to wind down. Yzak and Shiho, along with the vast majority of their pilots had gone back to the _Minerva_. Most of the ZAFT officers had also left leaving only a couple dozen people making small talk, indulging in some drinking, or dancing.

The music had started up only a few minutes after the conversation with the Chairman and Athrun recognized most of it as _Historia_ , an interesting genre of music that had its origins in a recent archeological find from the twenty-first century of the Anno Domini Era. Aside from a number of important pieces, the majority of songs prior to the Reconstruction Wars had been lost in that turbulent time. However, an old "I-pod" dated from approximately the middle of the first decade had been discovered with a functioning battery and the myriad songs, so different in some ways from modern music, had been loosely defined as _Historia_. A great many of these songs had become popular in the aftermath of the Bloody Valentine War, especially among the youth.

He looked over to the request station and saw the overly-eager pilot that they been introduced to earlier making a musical selection. He then strode back towards the table and waited expectantly. He briefly considered making a request himself, but quashed that urge in an instant.

"Luna?" the pilot offered his hand to a fuchsia-haired woman in a midnight-blue dress. "I believe you owe me a dance."

"Fine but don't step on my feet."

"Won't happen," he said confidently as he led her in beginning a waltz.

He recognized the song the boy had selected, 'I Hope You Dance,' a song that had played that night. The last song they had dance to. He glanced over at Cagalli and found those beautiful golden eyes staring back at him, almost pleading, but clouded by so many doubts. They couldn't.

"Aw come on," Mwu drawled. "Just go dance you two. I doubt many people would care and any that would are likely too drunk like this one." He punctuated that statement by yanking Dearka's head up by his blonde hair and letting it slam back on to the table.

"Mir," he muttered in his drink-induced sleep.

A rather flat expression stole over Mwu's face. "You know what? I think I'll join him," he remarked, taking a deep drink from his glass.

He turned back to Cagalli and slowly proffered his hand. She accepted and he led her out. In that moment, with her in his arms, everything felt right. Even as tensions built up, they were still thankfully at peace. And that was what mattered.

* * *

Alfrid woke up even earlier than usual the next day. He blinked wearily and saw Dearka up, alternating between dressing and cursing, obviously having a bad hangover.

"Not a good day?" he remarked with a smug note.

"Laugh at my pain," he moaned back, banging his head on the wall and then letting loose an additional volley of curses.

"Better you than me," Alfrid volleyed back.

"Yeah, well," he yawned widely. "I've got to go get the Buster. And just saying that makes me slightly happier."

"Have fun on your patrol."

"Have fun keeping Shinn under control, _Commander_."

"Oh hell," Alfrid gulped, sitting up like he'd been hit by a thunderbolt from Mjolnir and realizing that his new position was now looking less like a blessing from Odin and more like one of Loki's tricks. "Switch?"

"Better you than me." With that last mockery, Dearka walked out of the room, laughing his head off, his good humor restored.

With a sigh, Alfrid got out of bed and went through his morning routine, praying for a few extra minutes to make up for neglecting to do so the previous day. His religious tendencies were an odd blip in the PLANTs, a nation primarily made up of people with atheistic or agnostic views. Religion was looked upon with suspicion by many Coordinators, due to their very creation being seen as a violation of many codas. It didn't help that many fanatics, especially of the Christian and Islamic persuasions, were members of Blue Cosmos or other anti-Coordinator groups. Though there had grown to be an amount of tolerance among some denominations.

However, Alfrid didn't face any internal moral debate over whether or not some greater force disapproved of his existence. He followed the Norse pantheon, the great war gods of antiquated northern Europe. Wise Odin, mighty Thor, cunning Loki, and many more. They were the gods his family had followed for as long as they could trace back. They never denied this part of themselves, even at the height of Christianity during the Middle Ages. The gods had given them strength, represented by the ancient sword, Draugr, a blade who had been dated by numerous generations of Drekas, each test proving that it had been around since at least the first century B.C. Even their name, Dreka, was a Norse word. The word for dragon; fierce, strong, cunning, swift, proud, wise, and ageless. Though their line had dwindled before, it had never broken.

His beliefs raised many eyebrows and it was widely whispered that he was a raving lunatic (by the standards of Coordinators, it was an accurate assessment). But his father's reputation meant they would at least give him a chance to prove himself before they judged him. Finishing with his prayers, Alfrid decided to do just that, heading towards the hanger to take out his ZAKU one last time before the launching ceremony. The virtue of being woken up early.

* * *

A knock at her door alerted Cagalli that their escorts had arrived. She led Athrun and Mwu out of her room, dressed immaculately in her Orb official suit. Mwu wore the uniform of an Orb Forces Captain and Athrun was dressed more informally, a black fleece over a green olive shirt and khaki pants. The door slid open to reveal their purple-coated escorts from the day before.

"Representative Athha," the elder, grey-bearded, gestured for her to accompany them.

"Thank you," she nodded, passing through the door accompanied by Athrun. Mwu had another role to play and she was confident that Athrun and the Chairman's guards would be protection enough. They followed the two men down the corridor and out into the sprawling military base.

Everywhere they looked, the next generation of mobile suits strolled around. The vast majority were ZAKU Warriors and Phantoms. Others were the new GOUF Igniteds. But there were also a scattering of updates of older models, GuAIZ Perfects and GINN High-Maneuver Type IIs. Artillery-based GAZuOOTs, the larger more heavily armed successor to the ZuOOT, loomed ominously over the smaller mobile suits. Aerial BABIs and, in very few numbers, DINNs flew in small groups overhead. A number of aquatic GOOhNs, ZnOs, and a few of the new ASSHs were being tested in a lake. Armory One seemed to almost breath power as the massive war machine of ZAFT was planned, built, and tested with its bounds.

At last, they spotted the Chairman conferring with a number of his staff members. He offered a small smile as they approached.

"Princess," he acknowledged with a nod.

"Chairman," she replied, holding back a surge of irritation at the condescending that she instinctually knew was meant to needle her. "Thank you for arranging this tour. I'm sure it would set the minds of my people at ease to know their loved ones are safe."

"And too prove to the Atlantic Federation that Orb is not providing military aid to the PLANTs in violation of the Treaty of Junius Seven?" he inquired with a knowing smirk.

Cagalli shrugged non-consequently. She would have been more shocked if the Chairman hadn't known about the pressure being exerted by the Atlantic Federation. In the aftermath of East Asia's defeat, the AF's ambassador had made overtures saying that if Orb joined the Earth Alliance, then they would ensure Orb's citizens were safely returned. However the same message had contained a veiled threat that Orb would be attacked if the Orb citizens were there by their country's command. Yuna, attempting to sway public favor towards the EA had promptly released the terms to the public. Instead, there had been huge backlash over Orb possibly allying with the very country that had nearly destroyed it. Of course the question over whether Orb's refugees were staying in the PLANTs willingly still festered.

"It would solve some diplomatic niceties if we were able to confirm that Orb's citizens are here of their own free will."

"Very well then. If you'll follow me," he led them towards a hanger with a large number of people.

For the greater part of the morning, Cagalli interviewed and talked with numerous workers who had fled from Orb to live in the PLANTs. They expressed satisfaction, even pride, at designing and building the new models. There was even a rumor going around that there was a young man who was one of ZAFT's elite pilots. However there seemed to be an air of nervousness, and Cagalli saw that at least a couple of the "Orb citizens" were fake. At last, the process was complete and she walked out to the Chairman.

"Everyone seems relatively happy with working for you. I would wonder if it would be possible to talk to their families though."

"I believe it could be arranged."

"Thank you. I'm sure that if their families wish to return to Orb, we could arrange for adequate transportation to ensure they could spend time in both countries."

"I think that would be an appropriate compromise. Your people would be able to see their loved ones are content. The refugees would have the opportunity to see a rebuilt Orb and return if they wish. Of course the downside is that it could easily be constructed as an agreement between ZAFT and Orb."

"My uncle Unato has enough diplomatic clot that he could arrange complete transparency. I believe it would even be possible to allow an Earth Alliance agent, possibly from the Atlantic Federation itself, to be part of the program."

"You surprise me Princess. A cunning move of a veteran politician. I would wonder though; why not a more neutral standpoint, say from Eurasia?"

"Thank you," she accepted the compliment before taking a deep breath. It was a huge gamble, but it could pay off. "Unfortunately, with the rise in tensions between the Atlantic Federation and the Eurasian Confederacy, taking the moderate path…"

"Yes, I'll admit I was not surprised by the falling out. The Atlantic and Eurasia have been opposed to each other for decades. If war had not broken out as the Bloody Valentine conflict, I suspect it would only have been a matter of time before violence erupted between the two nations."

"There are rumors going around that a high-ranking person in either the PLANT government or ZAFT revealed the true nature of what occurred at JOSH-A," she pressed, ignoring Athrun's subtle headshaking.

"I hope…" the Chairman began, but Cagalli cut him off.

"I misspoke. I did not mean a current member. I could easily see a Zalaite removed from office trying to provoke a war between the two Natural nations."

The Chairman appeared to be appeased by this. "Yes a great portion of the radical party would find a grim sense of irony in the two superpowers of Earth destroying it."

Cagalli didn't even try to resist shuddering at the very real possibility of the titanic clash. Earth was standing on the edge of a knife, another war so soon could do irreparable damage to human culture and even humanity itself.

"I myself confess to shedding no tears as the Earth Alliance has begun its near inevitable break-up. Such an organization, built on hate, finds itself unable to be sustained without a war to be fought," the Chairman continued. "I suffered loss during the war, though nowhere near as great as many in the PLANTs or you, yourself, Princess. But I think even your great father would have acknowledged the end of the Earth Alliance as something good that came out of the war."

"Only if such an end comes in its time and with peace," Cagalli corrected him. "I have no feelings towards the Eurasian Confederacy, save admiration for those who worked to affect change during and after the war."

"Yes it is always hard to change minds when it seems as though you fight for your very survival."

"Indeed. And it was the Atlantic Federation that burned Orb for no reason other than to gain our mass driver as a weapon to use against ZAFT. But I would not wish to see a war come to either of them. Like the last war, it could stand too great a chance of spiraling into another conflict that consumes the entire Earth Sphere."

"Precisely. And how should we in the PLANT react to the unrest on Earth. I feel it is best to strengthen ZAFT, to make sure that we can stay neutral or intervene as we need. Your father understood that Orb would be attacked and he bought as much time for his country as he could. And when this time ended, Lord Uzumi continued following Orb's ideals rather than be a puppet for others."

"We will not attack another nation," the Chairman began, reciting the founding creed of Orb, announced more than a century before the beginning of the Cosmic Era. "We will not allow another nation to attack us."

"And we will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations," Cagalli finished, wincing internally at the reminder that Orb had done precisely that during the Bloody Valentine War.

"And yet without all but the greatest strength, it is impossible for one country not to be drawn into the struggles of the superpowers that surround it. After all, that is the reason Orb maintains possibly the most technologically advanced military in the Sol system, and certainly one of the largest in comparison to its population."

"I agree, but I also feel that too much strength would invite others to desire that strength. It is the reason why I opposed the construction of the _Takemikazuchi_. It was an unnecessary waste of resources. Orb had no need to create such a warship."

"I am afraid that we must disagree Princess. Strength, complete strength is a necessity; in war and in peace. Your new ship is a testament to Orb's strength. A signal to the world that your military is every bit as capable as the Earth Alliance. Now is there anything else you wish?"

"I would like to see the Legend."

The poleaxed expressions on the faces of the Chariman's staff would have been hilarious at another time, if the matter had not been so serious. In her mind it all but confirmed the Legend was nuclear.

* * *

Lieutenant-Commander Ahab Wallace had decided to swing by the hanger and give his mobile suit one last look-over before readying it for being added to the _Minerva's_ arsenal. The Diamond Strike was a beautiful machine and he pitied anyone who was on the receiving end of its numerous weapons.

He looked over and saw a group of five teenagers in civilian garb with an escort admiring the two redesigned G-series Gundam-grade mobile suits. He was willing to bet that they were the brats of some politician or other and figured they were being given some kind of special treatment. To see the newest weapons of ZAFT and convince them to join. He didn't really care about that. Especially considering the last group of political kids had been the Le Creuset Team.

That particular group had proven itself competent, but their loyalty had been, and still was, questionable. The Chairman's own son had turned traitor, and his surviving teammates had more or less joined him. Sure Elsman and Commander Joule had returned to ZAFT, but considering the former was dating a Natural from Orb…

Wallace was no Zalaite, but there was no denying the fact that Coordinators were inherently superior in every way to Naturals. Even the fact that the children of the relatively few unions between Coordinators and Naturals were always Coordinators seemed to just confirm this. And until he proved otherwise, Wallace wasn't going to just to pretend that Elsman wasn't fully capable of deserting again when it suited him.

Suddenly a commotion caught his attention and the sound of gunfire introduced the horrifying spectacle of the five teenagers massacring the various guards. They moved like lightning, striking with long knives and gunning down anyone out of immediate arms' length.

He saw Elana, the Onyx Blitz's pilot go down with a hole in her head. He whirled around and tried to climb into the Strike's cockpit, but a bullet winged him and sent him crashing to the hanger floor.

A black-haired young girl with cold eyes walked over and gazed down at him. "Night, night space freak."

She brought down a pair of knives, with a roar of rage echoing in his head, demanding, "where are the other three?"

And he knew no more.

* * *

Suddenly a loud, deep siren began to sound across the base. ZAFT personnel immediately reacted running here and there, unarmed technicians began to aid pilots in preparing mobile suits for launch. Armed guards raced en masse towards a hanger with a large "6" on it. Suddenly the building exploded under streams of green energy, lancing out to strike into other hangers. Athrun tackled Cagalli to the ground as a wave of smoke and dust washed over the group.

"Mr. Chairman," a soldier in ground forces armor with a captain's insignia ran up to the group. "It's the new models sir, someone's taken them."

"They what?" the Chairman demanded, shock playing across his face like electricity.

Three mobile suits rushed forward out of the crumbling building in a well-orchestrated formation, decimating the first sign of a counterattack and turning close to a dozen mobile suits into scrap. The central one was green and gray, highlighted with orange, possessing what appeared to be massive thrusters placed on its back. The one on the right was mainly black, detailed by yellow and red, and appeared to follow the standard human-like configuration of most mobile suits, until it transformed into a quadruped form and took off. The third, in several shades of blue, appeared more suited for long-ranged combat as it opened fire with a massive array of weapons.

The three mobile suits were too powerful. The moved with too much efficiency and reacted to threats with ease. They could only be one thing.

"They're… they're…" Athrun muttered, unable, and unwilling, to voice what they were.

"Gundams," Cagalli concluded as the trio of war machines fired their weapons into the rows of hangers. She fought back tears as she realized what was happening. Only the Earth Alliance, almost assuredly the Atlantic Federation, would be daring enough and have the resources to attack the great stronghold of ZAFT. It would be war.

"Damnit," Athrun snarled, activating the communicator he had with him. "Mwu! Mwu, come in!"

"What is it kid? There are alarms going off like crazy. Did-"

Whatever else the former EA pilot said was lost in the fury of a resounding blast as the Gundams began engaging mobile that were arriving to engage them.

"And what the hell was that?"

"Someone's stolen some of ZAFT's new Gundams."

"Damn, just our luck. I'll be there as fast as possible. Get your girlfriend to safety."

Athrun didn't even deign to reply, far too used to the other man's teasing. That didn't stop Cagalli from feeling a rush of irritation though.

"Ma'am, this way," one of the Chairman's bodyguards ordered leading them to what would hopefully be shelter.

They followed the ZAFT soldier across the rapidly disintegrating base, watching horror as the three Gundams unleashed their fury. The earth itself shook as explosions rang out as the three awesomely powerful weapons were joined by three more. Two were obviously the new evolutions of the Strike and the Blitz, but the third moved with a precision and attacked with the power that only three other mobile suits had ever displayed. Freedom, Justice, and Providence. In some respects, it resembled the old Perfect Strike module, with a massive anti-ship sword and plasma cannon. It differed in others with massive red wings and a much darker color-scheme. And there was one other key difference, unconfirmed, but what she knew instinctively to be true: it was nuclear-powered. A tear leaked from her eye as she witnessed the first battle of a new war.

The new arrivals joined their stolen fellows and continued to lay waste to the base. The green mobile suit slashed a GuAIZ R in half with its beam saber, shoving the dying mobile suit down the alley they were running. A massive wave of heat and force swept over them forcing Athrun to thrust her behind a doorway. When the air cleared, their escort had disappeared.

"This way," Athrun grabbed her hand and they ran. But their course was cut off by another Gundam, this one the black quadruped, which leaped into the air to slash at a DINN with wing-mounted beam sabers.

The ZAFT mobile suit fell from the sky and came down on a hanger, destroying it. A heavy blow rang out near them as two ZAKUs crashed to the ground less than a hundred feet from them. As she watched, the six mobile suits continued to fight their way across the sprawling base, slaughtering all opposition without any true difficulty. Turning back to the ZAKUs, an idea formed in Cagalli's mind as she stared at them, she turned to Athrun and was about to ask for his help.

"No," he cut her off. He knew her too well. She knew she could be reckless, but their skills could help fight those monsters, maybe give ZAFT time to organize a full response.

"I'm the Chief Representative. If you want to keep guarding me, you need to follow me."

Without another pause, she scrambled to her feet and ran over towards the mobile suits. A low groan and movement in the corner of her eye let her know that Athrun was with her. A quick once-over of the ZAKUs made her realize that they didn't have anything more than cosmetic damage and even better, both hatches were opened. She just hoped that no one had been attempting to board them when they'd been ejected from their hangers.

"This is insane," Athrun shouted to her as he boarded one of them.

"Shut it. I'm not going to stand by and watch a bunch of maniacs start a war. Set your frequency for Orb Standard," she ordered.

She climbed in, breathing a sigh of relief that there was no evidence of someone trying to get in and perishing. The mobile suit's cockpit hummed to life around her and she inserted a flashdrive into a slot and allowed it to work its magic. It was a gift from Kira, a portable Natural-oriented o.s. that was attuned to her style of combat. She made a note to get him something nice for their next birthday. A quick scan of the weapon systems revealed a beam rifle and a beam tomahawk, which if she recalled was an attempt to combine a beam saber and a beam boomerang. No heavy equipment, but it would have to do. She saw Athrun's ZAKU rise to its feet revealing a crushed rifle.

"Great," Athrun's voice came over the comm system.

"I still have mine, I'll give you covering fire," she assured him.

She looked up to see a black ZAKU engaging the Gaia. Strangely, this one had beam sabers when she knew that the standard ZAKU lacked that weapon. Falling back into the patterns they both knew instinctively, Athrun charged to help the beleaguered ZAFT pilot while she scanned the skies for other threats.

* * *

Alfrid had been flying back to the ship after one last test flight before the day's festivities. Just as he had flown over the main storage facility, everything had started going to Helheim in a hand-basket. His comm system had gone wild with dozens of overlapping messages, warnings, orders, and worst of all screams as explosions rang out. He went to ground and tried desperately to find out what was going on.

As near as he could tell, the Gundams still in the test yard had been captured by unknown hostiles and had proceeded to unleash Muspelheim on the ZAFT base. It was complete chaos as the six high-tech mobile suits destroyed everything sent against them. Terror flowed in his veins as he realized the depth of the attack. Their attackers were forcing ZAFT to commit units to the fight as soon as they were active in order to contain them. But this also prevented them from gathering for a single massive counterattack that could feasibly bring down the Gundams. ZAFT was being destroyed piecemeal.

Raw fear flowed in his veins, paralyzing him and leaving him to ponder his options. As strong as his mobile suit was for a mass-production model, it was no match one-on-one for a Gundam. He took a deep steady breath. He could run, his batteries were drained from the day's exercise. But he also knew what his duty and honor demanded. What his father would have done. He had to fight.

"For ZAFT and the Hall of Valhalla," he roared boldly as a challenge, activating a beam saber in each hand, and charged.

The Gaia dashed out in front of him and seemed to regard him as though it thought a lone ZAKU charging it was cute or something. It activated the beam sabers mounted on each of its wings and came roaring towards him. A really stupid plan formed in his head. One that would have been pointless if the beam sabers had been old models which would pass right through each other. Right before the Gaia ran him down, he thrust the tips of his energy swords into the ground and braced himself.

The force of the collision sent his mobile suit skidding backwards, barely holding its footing as the Gaia drove forward. But it had worked. The clashing beam sabers were keeping it from just bowling him over and turning his machine to scrap. Now came the hard part. He managed to steady himself and shoved upwards. The Gaia's forward momentum sent it flipping through the air and smashing into a now-collapsing building.

Unfortunately, the damned thing's phase-shift armor was still up and running, although it seemed to have overloaded in places to judge by a series of dents, including a rather prominent one that had collapsed the left side of its head. All he could do was smile sheepishly as the machine seemed to be sending him a death glare worthy of Hel herself. Swallowing nervously, he raised the beams sabers into a defensive stance as his comm crackled.

"You damn bastard. How dare you do this to me," a guttural, female voice snarled.

With a burst of speed the Gaia hurled itself towards him again, pausing for only an instant to change into its mobile suit mode. Sending off a quick prayer, Alfrid stood his ground as the superior machine closed with his. And as though in answer, an unadorned ZAKU slammed into Gaia, sending it crashing to the ground. Within an instant, the newcomer was back on the transforming mobile weapon, hacking and slashing with a beam tomahawk, swiftly, and almost effortlessly, depriving the black war machine of its rifle and even knocking its shield out of its hand.

The Chaos suddenly appeared overhead and was maneuvering in to give support when a volley of beam rifle shots stopped it cold in its tracks. With awe-inspiring ability, another plain ZAKU came in, firing a tight circular burst of beam shots at the Chaos. The pilot then followed up with a near-perfect prediction of which way their opponent would move, spraying a smaller string of more precise shots that melted away part of the Chaos's armor.

"What are you doing just standing round like that? You're a sitting duck if the Blitz attacks," Alfrid looked up to see a youthful but scarred face, instantly recognizing the less prominent of Representative Athha's two bodyguards. The transmission was coming from the first of the two ZAKUs, leading him to guess that the other was being piloted by Mwu La Flaga himself.

"Right sorry," he corrected himself already moving his mobile suit from where he had been standing for far too long.

Shaking off his amazement at the two mass-produced mobile suits completely going to town on their Gundam opponents, he began searching for the other mobile suits the interlopers had gotten their hands on. He was also thanking whichever god or goddess was responsible for Commander Joule and the others taking their Gundams with them onboard the _Voltaire_ , otherwise the current disaster might well have been a catastrophe. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Abyss plowing towards the ZAKU that had driven off the Gaia, beam lance raised for a devastating sweep. As though the pilot had eyes in the back of his head, the ZAKU raised its shield and easily caught the blow. A follow-up blow with the beam tomahawk clove the polearm in two, robbing the Abyss of its only close-quarters weapon. The pilot began backpedalling, unnerved by the skill of its opponent.

Suddenly an explosion sent Alfrid's ZAKU tumbling to the ground, alarm bells howling in outrage. He turned himself around and briefly saw the air blur as the Onyx Blitz repositioned itself. The cloaked Gundam utilized a new light-bending coating that caused it to mimic its surrounding in a chameleon-like fashion. It even offered a measure of protection against grazing shots from beam weapons. Its downside was that it wasn't efficient enough to keep up at speeds anything other than a slow walk (by mobile suit standards), meaning a blur gave away its position when in motion.

Even with that handicap, it was a deadly opponent. The two "Trikeros II" shields were each armed three "Lancer Darts" and a high-velocity rifle. Each was also edged with experimental "Hoplon" beam emitters, effectively making the shields into over-sized beam sabers. Mounted on its back was the "Gleipnir II" rocket claw. It possessed not only the grappling hook of its predecessor, but also a beam cannon, effectively making it into a super-powered DRAGOON pod.

Caught off-guard, Alfrid's only real option was to fall back and try to reorient himself. Unfortunately the retreat caused him to run right into the Gaia. The Gundam had changed into its mobile suit mode and had its beam saber poised for a strike. Alfrid's response was to fire his thrusters and smash his ZAKU backwards into a nearby building, draining his phase shift even more. A quick check of his power levels saw that he only had about twenty minutes of combat left. After that, he was a sitting duck. The Gaia, however, didn't seem to be inclined to give him even that long, as it stalked forward. Unable to rise fast enough, all Alfrid could do was watch as the Gaia aimed its beam saber right at his cockpit.

Without warning, the black machine threw itself to the side to avoid an intense volley of missiles. Although the physical weapons inflicted little, if any, damage, they did buy Alfrid the time to regain his footing. He looked up and found himself grateful towards Shinn Auska for once in his life. Quick as lightning, the Core Splendor linked up with the Chest and Leg Flyers. The Sword Silhouette connected with the modular Gundam, turning its phase shift armor into a brilliant red. The powerful machine landed on the ground with a resounding crash and drew its twin anti-ship swords.

"Why is this happening?" Shinn demanded. "Are you trying to start another one? Another war?"

There was only one response Alfrid could muster as he opened a comm line. "No Shinn, these are old chums of mine here for afternoon tea."

Before Shinn could reply, a plasma cannon blast hit the ground beneath his fleet and sent the Impulse cartwheeling, with Shinn providing a litany of curses. His attacker soared downwards, revealing itself to be the ZGMF-42S Legend. The nuclear-powered Gundam, according to rumors. If those were true, then they were in big trouble.

* * *

As the _Girty Lue_ slipped through space, Neo Roanoke wore a confident half-smile. None of his operatives had activated their abort signals, meaning if all went according the plan, ZAFT would be distracted with nearly half a score of new Gundam mobile suits tearing through their, previously, most secure military complex. And now he would throw them into even greater chaos.

The new _Girty Lue_ -class battleships were based on the _Archangel_ -class assault carriers, but traded maneuverability for increased speed and mobile suit capacity, boasting a formidable forty-eight unit hanger. They also lacked the Lohengrin positron cannons, but made up for it with an increased number of Gottfried turrets. The result was a less volatile weapon system with nearly equal, if not as concentrated, damage output. _Girty Lue_ also carried an experimental laser-based point-defense system meant to replace the Igelstellung gatling guns. Overall, it was the most advanced ship currently in existence, with the possible exception of ZAFT's new _Minerva_.

Nonetheless, none of _Girty Lue_ 's current opponents were the _Minerva_. They were mainly patrolling _Nazca_ -class with a couple aging _Laurasia_ -class and more _Nazcas_ in the dockyards.

Neo glanced down at his watch and smiled as the seconds ticked down. The mirage colloid-equipped Slaughter Daggers should have reached their destination and were on station to devastate any ZAFT ships that launched. And then the countdown finished.

* _beep beep_ * * _beep beep_ *

"Okay let's go. Carefully. Keep an eye out for any approaching ZAFT vessels that we haven't identified."

All around him the ship roared to life. Crewmen hurriedly shrugged off their space suits to give themselves a greater degree of movement and reaction. _Girty Lue_ 's mirage colloid system had been meant to be used in fleet engagements, when the variety of explosions and other distractions meant that sensors were being overloaded. Alone as it was on this mission though, even with the advanced stealth technology, any basic heat sensor would have instantly identified the ship had it been running at full power. Instead the reactor had been cranked down to virtually no output and almost every system had been powered down, even life support. Their movement had come exclusively from the external engine pods. And now they were going active.

"Activate Gottfrieds One, Three, and Five. Target the port-side _Nazca_ -class," Ian Lee ordered from the seat on his left. The older man was one of the Atlantic Federation's best, serving through the entirety of the Bloody Valentine War, never losing a ship under his command, save a Drake-class escort ship at Jachin Due. "Load all missile tubes with Korinthos, designate the starboard Nazca for targeting by Tubes One through Eight. Fire on my mark."

Several tense seconds crept by as the _Girty Lue_ slipped closer. "FIRE!"

Six beams of green light lanced out and obliterated one of the two nearby ZAFT warships. The other apparently had an experienced captain as the missiles launched at their ship were stopped without incident.

"Launch all mobile suits."

Neo received a quick communication from his advanced party. The attached imaged showed the dockyard in shambles, with the command post smashed by an out-of-control _Laurasia_ -class. He offered up a brief smile. Everything was going according to plan. The destruction of the second nearby _Nazca_ confirmed that sentiment.

"Three incoming _Nazca_ -class vessels supported by one _Laurasia_ -class."

' _Now this is a battle_ ,' he thought as the Girty Lue's mobile suits began engaging their opponents. A volley from the ship's Valiant linear cannons signaled the full commencement of the ship-to-ship engagement.

* * *

Shinn was without-a-doubt, one-hundred-percent, pissed off. Someone damn lowlifes were ripping a hole through the ranks of ZAFT and all that damned Dreka could do was crack jokes. Not helping matters was the fact that he was being engaged by the Legend, which was supposedly nuclear powered. Considering the strength behind the attack, Shinn wouldn't be particularly surprised. He raised the Gundam back to its feet and connected the two "Excalibur" anti-ship swords, which he had somehow maintained a death grip on. And then he did exactly as he was taught; he attacked with a ground-shaking charge.

His opponent was good, closing the distance before Shinn could bring the "Excalibur" down, and intercepted the blow, knocking him off balance. Fortunately, one of the ZAKUs that were engaging the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss noticed long enough to send a spray of beams and drive the Legend back. He was honestly pretty impressed with the two ZAKU pilots. They were moving in perfect synch and dealing damage to all three Gundams, despite being only standard ZAKU Warriors without Wizard packs. The detonation of a grenade somewhere behind him let him know that Dreka was holding off the Onyx Blitz, though for how long he didn't know.

He turned his attention back to the Legend just in time to dodge a blow from its own anti-ship sword. Fortunately, blocking with the upper blade of the dual sword allowed Shinn to deliver a punishing thrust downwards. But a sheet of energy expanded right in front of the point, blocking the near-perfect blow. Shinn cursed, remembering that the Legend supposedly had a new shielding technology. Or rather did have them.

"Shinn what's the situation?"

The captain's question was curt and demanding, but he knew that he'd better answer so that anyone else who launched knew what was going on.

"It's a fucking mess," he swore without thinking. "I am engaging the Legend and it is as tough as scuttlebutt says." He took time to dodge the blast from the plasma cannon as the red stream of destruction plowed across the base. "Two ZAKUs are holding off the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss. Alfrid is fighting the Blitz and getting his ass kicked." He smiled at the thought of the self-righteous prick losing his mobile suit in their first battle. "And the Strike is somewhere."

"Remember those mobile suits belong to us," the Vice-Captain interjected. "Your orders are to recapture as many as possible intact."

"I know that," he snarled, "but I'm not taking chances and being gentle when they're trying to kill me. How the hell did this happen anyway? Did we just let the enemy walk in?"

"That's enough," Captain Gladys silenced him. "We don't have time for any arguments. Try to hold them off as long as possible. We'll scramble the entire mobile suit contingent to deal with them."

"Roger."

"Pilot look behind you," a rather rough, female voice ordered.

He glanced behind him and saw the Diamond Strike bearing down on him with its anti-ship swords drawn. Frantically he disconnected the linked "Excalibur" and intercepted the dual blows. Another blast from the Legend's plasma cannon struck the ground between them and both he and the bastard's buddy were catapulted through the air. An open frequency gave him the idea it hadn't been planned or appreciated.

"Bask, you fucking moron, watch where you aim that thing," an outraged tone commanded, one that Shinn recognized as that of a pissed off superior officer.

"Stay out of my way then," a far colder one replied, disturbingly disinterested for someone in a combat situation.

While the two pilots snapped at each other, Shinn saw another Gundam-identified contact appeared on the sensor. "What now? Who the fuck is this?" The screen's only reply was to identify the new arrival: GAT-X105 STRIKE. Shinn's jaw nearly fell off.

The Strike was possibly the only mobile suit as famed as the Freedom and Justice. The Gundam, piloted by a guy named Kirey Yamago or something, had defended the _Archangel_ for more than two months before being defeated. It had then been rebuilt and was piloted by Mwu La Flaga after the Battle of JOSH-A, fighting for the so-called Three Ship Alliance. It had then passed into Orb's possession, fighting again during the Oceania War.

The veteran mobile suit zoomed in and engaged the Legend. The newer Gundam easily avoided its attacks, but the Strike was just at successful in dodging the return blows. The Strike had some new equipment pack on its back, looking very similar to the Aile pack that gave it atmospheric flight. He could grudgingly admit that Orb knew what it was doing when it came to mobile suit design.

Suddenly a voice came over the comm, "Shinn we are closing in on the battle, our sensors detected a new mobile suit entering the fray, please identify it."

"It's the Strike Rey, the original. I guess Athha felt the need to show-off or something."

"Very well. Our ETA is ninety seconds."

Shaking away the distracting thoughts, Shinn turned his attention back to the battle, only to realize something.

"Rey I don't know what's going on, but it looks like they're trying to run away."

"They probably are. An unknown warship just destroyed the Armory One Defense Fleet's first squadron. We will likely need to pursue it and recapture the Gundams."

* * *

As he made his way to the _Minerva_ , Durandal watched the video feed of the mobile suits clashing and the thieves fleeing. Yzak Joule and his fellows taking their Gundams with them on patrol was unexpected, but with any luck, they would not retain them for long. But, perhaps it was a mixed blessing given the recent intelligence from Lodonia.

Orb's little chief-of-state was much more adept than he initially gave her credit for. Heads would roll for whoever had allowed the leak that resulted in her discovery of the Legend. He could also recognize nebulous but relatively skilled efforts at manipulation. It was possible he had fooled her, but there were no guarantees. Perhaps she would die in the attack. That would likely enable Orb to be more easily manipulated.

Nonetheless the die was cast.

"And so it begins again. But this time, Destiny will have its say."

 **A/N: Well, welcome to my rewrite of Gundam SEED Destiny. To be honest, I felt that SEED had a great story (after all, it's the second highest rated season in the franchise's history), but Destiny fell flat on its rather idiotic face. So, I'm going to try my hand at adjusting it into a worthy successor to SEED. You'll notice that the Minerva has a lot more pilots than in canon, and let me tell you, there's going to be a horrendous turnover rate. I'm also going to expand the war a bit and add some politicking to explain why the Earth Alliance ends up getting its ass kicked. The reason Mwu La Flaga is here is because he got his butt on the Archangel quickly and Natarle self-destructed the Dominion after evacuating it. A quick note on the song choice during the party: I saw my first glance at Gundam SEED Destiny through an AMV of that song, hence why I decided to throw out that little nod. Oh and before I forget, here are some descriptions for the various 'new' mobile suits that were mentioned or appeared in this chapter. I also did my best to apply the ZAFT numbering designations to the updated G-weapons. All of my current invented mobile suits are capable of true atmospheric flight (like the Force Impulse) as opposed to limited flight like the Calamity.**

 **This is an update of my original first chapter and while I had planned to get slightly further along in my writing before publishing in earnest, it's been a year since this story was published so now seems as good a time as any. It'll update on the first Sunday of each month. Bu if I know that people are enjying this story, you can bet that my pace will pick up.**

 **ZGMF-X42s Legend: Essentially, it's the same thing as the canon Destiny, save for the fact that it has a back-mounted thruster and the "Wings of Light" are specifically meant to generate the blur motion rather than provide propulsion. Don't worry, I have something special in mind for Mr. Asuka.**

 **ZGMF-21G Diamond Strike: Essentially, the Strike Noir with the addition of the IWSP equipment module and shield (which mounts a rapid-fire laser as opposed to a gatling gun) and the ability to transform into a mobile armor shaped like a B-2 stealth bomber with an extended fuselage which resembles that of an F-18.**

 **ZGMF-43G Sapphire Duel: The Blu Duel with the original Duel's railgun bazooka, Assault Shroud, and two shields.**

 **ZGMF-22G Ruby Aegis: Rosso Aegis with four shields attached to the arms that also mount beam rifles.**

 **ZGMF-85G Emerald Buster: Verde Buster without the shoulder-mounted weapons. Instead it is equipped paired versions of the original Buster's main weapon that can either combine to be dual-wielded or be mounted on the shoulders (gun launchers) and waist (high energy rifles). The bayonet mountings on the M9009B beam rifles are also beam blades.**

 **ZGMF-74G Onyx Blitz: A Blitz that dual-wields two "Trikeros II" shields and has a backpack equipped with a rocket-powered grappling hook that can function as a DRAGOON pod. The Trikeros II shields are equipped with three lancer darts. They are also edged with beam emitters that basically allow it slice opposing mobile suits. Because it was a "public" project, it was equipped with a chameleon-like system as opposed to mirage colloid.**

 **Well, it's been a year since I first posted this story and while the reaction wasn't all that in terms of quantity, I felt the quality was there. Starting now, I will update once a month and try to keep with that pattern as long as I have chapters already written. If my stock runs out, I'll put up a poll asking if people want sporadic update or for me to go on hiatus for a year and rebuild so that I can start a new pattern of once-a-month updates. My writing pattern is basically to try to write things chronologically in the same order that you read them, but sometimes a particular scene from a future chapter is just asking to be written and other times I want to add a scene or two to a chapter that was already written. The good news is that this means that there'll be less to write as we get closer to the end. Once I've written all but the last couple of chapters, I'll switch to updating once a week and pump them out as fast as possible. Hope you guys are ready for the long-haul because this thing will probably end up somewhere in the vicinity of 750,000+ words. See you next month.**


	2. Phase Two: Chase Into Space

**Disclaimer:** **Still don't own Gundam SEED Destiny (or any Gundam), still haven't thought up a clever one-liner either.**

Phase Two: Chase into Space

Alfrid barely forced his quickly depowering ZAKU away from another of the Blitz's attacks. He had already been forced to switch off his phase shift to conserve power. Fortunately, the attack from outside of Armory One had apparently knocked the artificial gravity for a loop since he was able to fly (more or less) without the Wing Wizard. He'd actually detached it and exploded it right behind the Legend as it made a run at the original Strike.

Down below, Shinn was being triple-teamed by the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss. While the loss of its sole melee weapon hampered it, the Abyss was still able to keep Shinn pinned down with overwhelming firepower. Both the Chaos and Gaia had taken the opportunity to close in on him. The Gaia engaged him first, beam saber flashing and trying to sever the Impulse's sword, but the anti-beam coating held. A swing from the second sword kept the Chaos at bay, but the aerial mobile suit kept searching for a weakness. Suddenly it cut its engines and came charging in just as the Gaia rammed the Impulse with its recovered shield.

Just as it looked like Shinn would become beam saber shish-kebab, one of the ZAKU Warriors that had saved Alfrid earlier came tearing across the ground. It threw its shielded shoulder into the Chaos staggering it. With astonishing grace belaying its size and bulk, the mobile suit whirled to face the Gaia. A pink flash saw the beam tomahawk buried into the Gaia's shield. It apparently also used a grenade, as a small explosion knocked the mobile suit onto its tin can. The ZAKU quickly bound in to take back its axe and then retreated before the Gundam could recover. However, a blast from the Abyss took off its shield and left arm.

Alfrid barely noticed the Blitz closing in on him in time to get out of the way. Cursing his lack of attention, he reoriented himself for a fight. The dodge didn't stop his relentless opponent though as he swooped forward. Suddenly the other mobile jerked back and jetted away. Milliseconds later, a crimson beam of energy tore through their engagement zone, and it almost certainly would have scored a direct hit if not for the abrupt departure. The originator of the attack, a red ZAKU Phantom, zoomed pass his screen just as a warning informed him that his power had dropped below five percent.

"Thanks Luna. You really saved my ass. I need to head back to the _Minerva_ to recharge."

"No prob, we've brought the cavalry."

"No kidding."

Suddenly the six hostile gundams were swarmed by close to thirty ZAKUs, with more ZAFT mobile suits zooming towards the battlefield from all over Armory One. He scanned the skies and quickly found the target of his search: A GuAIZ Perfect.

"Samuel!" he called for the veteran pilot, one of only a few members of the _Minerva's_ current crew that had seen combat in a mobile suit.

"Yes sir," came the quick, professional response. Alfrid smiled, remembering that the Captain had called him mid-test flight to tell him that he had been temporarily promoted to Lieutenant-Commander.

"Take command here. Keep everyone alive, please."

"Understood."

Alfrid then set a course for the _Minerva_. As he closed in, he saw it making preparations to launch. Apparently the ceremony had been canceled in favor of sending the powerful ship into battle immediately.

The starboard launch bay opened to admit him and he set the ZAKU down, walking it into the hanger. The second he had finished powering down, he opened the hatch and hurled himself out, landing lightly on his feet, thanking Odin that someone had the foresight to begin adjusting the gravity level towards zero in preparation for their launch into space.

"Yolant, Vino! Get a basic patch job wherever it's needed, recharge this thing to maximum, and ready a Blaze Wizard Pack."

Without even waiting for a response, he drifted towards the first door that would lead him to the bridge.

* * *

Zabi Almark was not having a good day anymore. He and his team of Extendeds had been assigned to infiltrate ZAFT's main military base. Under normal circumstances, such a move would have been considered suicide. But a high-ranking someone within ZAFT itself had been courting Phantom Pain for over a year. The result was the mission they were on now.

The operation had started simply enough. Four ZAFT officers had met them at the assigned location and they had been driven to two hangers. First they'd dropped off Sting's squad. Their targets would be ZAFT's new test beds, Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss. The theft of just those three would hopefully set back production on any new mass-produced models for the foreseeable future. Their next stop was where ZAFT's pride and joy were. A series of five Gundams based on the ones stolen at Heliopolis during the Bloody Valentine War. Finally, Scirocco Bask was escorted away by the four defectors to a secret hanger that supposedly housed ZAFT's new nuclear-powered Gundam, the Legend.

Unfortunately that's when things started to go wrong. His team of five discovered that only two of the promised five mobile suits were there and they immediately began fighting over who got the two suits. The mission's timetable kept advancing however and Sting's team had already begun to attack everything in sight. Within seconds, a ZAFT security team had burst in armed to the teeth and had killed Wufei, Mariemaia, and Noin, leaving just him and Zechs. That was just fine with Zabi as he managed to get aboard the Diamond Strike while Zechs clambered into the Onyx Blitz. Technically that was supposed to go to Wufei, while Zechs got the Sapphire Duel, but he was just glad that Wufei didn't have a mobile suit capable of being invisible.

When the pair had busted out of the hanger and found Scirocco massacring everything in sight along with the other three, he felt like things were improving. He still wasn't exactly eager to explain to Neo that three Extended had died and they were down three Gundams, but the current results were better than predicted. Hell they hadn't even fully trusted in the idea of a nuclear Gundam and had mainly sent Scirocco because his habit of killing Extended at the lab was become a little too costly, even by Blue Cosmos's relatively low standards concerning the value of lives. He had no problem with some casual killing so he joined in on the wanton destruction while they waited for Neo to get his ass in position.

And then the pendulum had swung back the other way. Some crazy in a black ZAKU had managed to get the drop on Stella, pissing her off. And then before she could finish it off, two _very_ good ZAKUs had shown up and started making fools out of Sting and his team. Zechs had intervened, pushing the new arrivals onto the defense. And then an unidentified Gundam had appeared out of nowhere swinging the tide back in ZAAFTs favor. Scirocco's attack had probably been the only thing that had saved the Gaia from being tag-teamed. To make matters worse, their enhancements weren't working as they should have. The two pilots in the green ZAKUs weren't registering with him at all and his read on the other ZAKU and the new Gundam felt a little off. By Sting and Auel's cursing, they weren't having much luck either. Just when he thought things had gone as mad as possible, the goddamned Strike Gundam from the last war had appeared, piloted by none other than Mwu La Fucking Flaga. If anything was a sign of their need to bail, that was it.

Finally the signal from the _Girty Lue_ had been broadcast and his team was preparing to leave, when they became swarmed by even more ZAKUs. He immediately ordered the retreat. Sting would get his team out, even if it meant using their block words. Zechs was no problem either; he was a fighter, but not a retard. The real problem was Scirocco; he was the epitome of being a cold killing machine and remembering that there were people on his side was not mandatory in his mind. Whatever Blue Cosmos had done to him, the result was someone who would gladly keep killing Coordinators even if he lost both arms and legs. Even his block word usually had mixed results at best.

"Scirocco we're bailing, no arguments," he snapped off.

The other pilot replied in his typical emotionless monotone, "I'm not satisfied yet. I feel that we would be better served killing more of these degenerate scum."

He punctuated that statement by firing his beam cannon and annihilating a DINN.

"I'll use your block word."

"Do it and when I get through with this mission I'll fucking murder you," the same even tone replied, hardly changing at all. Still, Zabi knew the guy was very likely considering adding him and the Diamond Strike to the piles of scrap that littered the battlefield

"I wouldn't expect anything less, _philosopher_ ," Zabi retorted, praying that it worked correctly.

"FUCK YOU!" Scirocco screamed in a howl of rage as his body took over, blinded by pain, and forced his mind to except the reality that they needed to retreat.

He zoomed into the sky, closely followed by Zechs. Sting's team was right behind them, led by the Gaia. Judging by Stella's screaming, they'd had to use her block word too. Suddenly one of the green ZAKUs that he couldn't sense came out of nowhere with its beam tomahawk. Panicking briefly, he threw the Diamond Strike's anti-ship sword catching the ZAKUs leg and toppling it. Shaking off his fried nerves, Zabi Almark followed his fellow Extended towards the hull of the colony.

Know all he needed to do was figured how he was going to avoid Scirocco until the guy underwent one of his infrequent memory wipes. He was under no false impression that the other Extended wouldn't kill him if given half a millisecond of opportunity.

* * *

Neo watched the quick and brutal space battle come to a temporary pause as the _Laurasia_ -class exploded from missile fire, its defensive CIWS system overwhelmed.

"Another task force is approaching sir. They've launched mobile suits," their CIC chief reported.

"Our mobile suit teams are reporting increasingly heavy losses."

"They might have failed," Captain Lee suggested grimly. "Enhancements and Gundams aside, that place is a military arsenal. No matter how much damage they inflict, they longer they stay, the worse their situation will get."

"I know that," Neo acknowledged, a smile making its way across his face despite the grim situation. "But I wouldn't have sent them out on that mission if I didn't think they could pull it off and return with at least some of the Gundams. At the very least, their orders will make sure ZAFT doesn't regain them. In the meantime, relay orders to the Black Dragons, we're heading out; you're in command."

With that, Neo floated towards the bridge door as his subordinate began ordering the squadron to make ready for deployment. The door soon opened to admit him to the _Girty Lue_ 's ventral hanger. A non-standard addition, it was the basing for the newly minted 88th Orbital Fighter Squadron; their craft: the TS-MA4F Exus Mobile Amor. The specialized machine was the successor to TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero with vastly improved armament. Pilot requirements were similar to those of its predecessor, requiring OMNI, specifically the AF branch, to once again comb its ranks for men and women with a high level of special awareness, not to mention the temperament necessary to serve in Phantom Pain. The result after the brutal training regime was an elite group of thirteen men and five women. And then there was Neo himself. Swiftly and silently, they boarded the nineteen purple fighters and zoomed out of the hanger.

"All mobile suits withdraw to the _Girty Lue_ ," he ordered.

Within moments the EA mobile suits were retreating and the Exus squadron was effortlessly massacring those forces of ZAFT foolish enough to challenge them.

* * *

Captain Talia Gladys, commanding officer, _Minerva_ , gritted her teeth as she watched the battle unfold on the monitors. Barely three hours before she was to officially become the captain of ZAFT's most powerful vessel, save perhaps for the _Gondawana_ , the Gundams waiting to be loaded onto the ship were stolen and their pilots were dead. The entirety of Armory One had been thrown into complete chaos. And to make matters worse, the Chairman had shown up and bullied his way onto the bridge.

" _Minerva_ , send out the Force Silhouette," an aggravated voice demanded over the comm.

"Ma'am?" her second-in-command turned to her.

She took a deep breath knowing that this act would give away their last development. "Go ahead, I authorize it. There's no point in hiding it now." She half-turned in the captain's chair to face the leader of the PLANTs. "Is there?"

"No there isn't," her former lover agreed.

As the small fighter-like craft zoomed off the _Minerva's_ central catapult, Lieutenant-Commander Dreka charged out of the elevator and immediately stumbled over to Lieutenant Hawke's station, obviously anxious to find out what was happening, even if he wasn't there himself. Suddenly a call came in from the hanger.

"Ma'am a damaged ZAKU landed in the hanger without requesting permission," First Lieutenant Abby Windsor informed her from internal communications station, a note of concern in her voice.

"Their comm system may be out. We'll sort it out later," she ordered. Suddenly Alfrid bolted upright, his face white as a sheet.

"We've got a problem!"

Reaching across the younger girl, he pressed a series of buttons that showed the mobile suits' situation. A hole had been blasted in Armory One's hull and the mobile suits that had been pursuing the stolen Gundams were now being funneled out of the base.

"Captain, they're heading out on their own and the enemy ship is still out there. We're also receiving no transmissions from the Second Squadron."

"The Impulse's power levels have reached fifty percent," Meyrin reported from next to Abby.

"It would be a catastrophe to lose the Impulse as well. Finish our preparations, the _Minerva_ is to launch immediately. You should disembark Mr. Chairman," she advised her old flame.

"Talia, considering the circumstances, I cannot just wait around."

"But sir-" she protested.

"I have a duty that comes with my authority," he interrupted. "The PLANTs elected me to lead and I will be going with you, if you permit it."

"Very well."

She turned back to the _Minerva_ 's viewport. Gilbert was as stubborn and dutiful as always. And soon it was too late as rows of machinery and steel passed them.

"My machine should be partially recharged by now," Alfrid spoke up, "I'm going out there to take command."

He hurled himself through the increasingly gravity-less environment and departed the bridge. Soon the wall of grey in front of them gave way to the starry field of space.

"We're ready to launch ma'am," Arthur reported.

"Very well. Go to Condition Red. Engines to maximum," she ordered. " _Minerva_ : LAUNCH!"

The ship soared freely into battle.

* * *

Mwu gritted his teeth as he continued his pursuit of the mobile suit that vaguely resembled the Perfect Strike. Based off the amount of power it was blasting at him and the way his sensors were going berserk, he was almost certain it was the Legend and it was indeed nuclear-powered. He slammed his fist on the console, damning whatever idiot in ZAFT was so overconfident and arrogant enough to order a mobile suit with that power to be built. Fortunately, the Newtype sense that warned him on the battlefield was acting in full force, allowing him to compensate for his mobile suit's inferiority.

The vast presence of the ZAFT reactionary force was welcome as the captured Gundams had to spend more time dodging attacks than fighting back. As he watched, the red ZAFT Gundam with the big swords was forced back by the green one and lost one of its blades. He zoomed in at the same time as a white ZAKU and received a sudden Newtype reaction, one that indicated another Newtype nearby. He was so distracted that he nearly got hit by a small fighter-like craft. As he watched, a backpack-like device detached from the Gundam and another one, launched by the craft, replaced it. A set of wings folded out as the Gundam changed a fair amount of its phase shift from red to blue.

"Wow, ZAFT really likes copying this thing," he chuckled to himself, patting his cockpit affectionately. "I guess they're still peeved over the kid using it against them."

Suddenly a roar shook his machine and a powerful wind began to pull him along. He looked at one of his side views and his jaw nearly dropped open. His foe had taken his absence as an opportunity to blast a hole in the colony's wall. The nearby mobile suits were being violently yanked out into space.

He quickly adjusted the Strike's settings for space combat, diverting all spare energy to his sensors. Mystical sixth sense or not, he wasn't going to be taken by surprise. His ZAFT "allies" all appeared to be finishing their adjustments to an environment without the traditional ideal of orientation. Fortunately, their Coordinator abilities would hopefully help them make the switch fast.

Suddenly his sensors blared an alarm and his Newtyping went haywire, similar to how it would whenever he faced off with Le Crueset. Yanking his controls as hard as he could, he barely avoided being slaughtered by an overwhelming spray of green beams. Several ZAFT GuAIZ mobile suits weren't as lucky, exploding into brief, miniature stars. Hoping that he wasn't about to meet another psycho who wanted to eradicate mankind, he looked in the direction that the attack had come from. He saw multiple purple streaks as at least a squadron of mobile armors shot past the ZAFT mobile suits. As he focused on one, it separated into five pieces; gunbarrel pods, just like his Moebius Zero. It looked like the EA hadn't completely given up on mobile armors after all. The rest appeared to have done the same and space was now alight with green lights and purple blurs.

He carefully tracked one particular pod, evading firing as he kept an eye on it. As he hoped, it returned to its main body to recharge. A quick blast from the cannon generated a blast that rocked the mobile armor. A series of shots from the beam rifle turned it and the pilot into space dust. He glanced towards one of his side cameras to catch a glimpse of the mobile suits' mothership.

The resemblance between it and the _Archangel_ was no surprise if this was an Earth Alliance black ops group. It looked as though they'd removed the _Archangel's_ center and expanded the two legs, no doubt allowing for more hanger space. It was a dark grey and blue, reminding him eerily of the _Dominion_. It seemed to have removed the Lohengrin positron cannons in favor of more Gottfried turrets. Two wiry pylons on the side looked like non-standard modifications. Then a second big contact blossomed onto his HUD. It didn't take a genius to figure out that ZAFT had launched their new ship.

There it was.

Swooping out from under the colony it came roaring towards the battle. It didn't look too dissimilar from Evidence One, a single hull with broad graceful "wings". It also seemed to deliberately invoke the aura of the _Archangel_. To be honest, it seemed as though they had acquired one of an _Archangel_ -class's double hulls and built a ship around it. And unlike most ships which were monotonous in color, typically drab military colors, this ship was grey with a black underbelly and outline in brilliant red. Highlights of orange and blue drew attention to the weapon systems. Of course, after seeing the two _Archangel_ -class assault carriers fight entire squadrons single-handedly, ZAFT no doubt wanted a ship with similar capabilities.

As he watched, a lone mobile suit, a black ZAKU, charged out of the hanger and sped in to join the battle. Behind it, several streaks of smoke indicated a volley of missiles launched from the _Minerva_ to its opposite number.

* * *

Luna had just finished screaming at Yolant for failing to spot the problem with her engines, when a green ZAKU Warrior missing its shield and left arm strode into the hanger and dropped into a disembark position. The hatch opened and two people stepped out. One was a relatively handsome, save for a scar on the right side of his face, young man with brown hair. The other was a woman with close-cropped blonde hair.

"Who the hell are they?" she demanded to herself, snatching a machine pistol from an inattentive guard and rushing over to the damaged mobile suit. She leveled the gun at the pair as several security guards ran up. "Hold it you two!"

The man appeared to be acting as the main support for the woman, who was clutching her head, and shifted his position to stand protectively in front of her.

Suddenly her sister's voice rang out, echoing in the near-empty hanger. "The ship is about to take off. All hands proceed to your stations. I repeat: The ship is about to take off. All hands proceed to your stations."

"Don't move," she snapped reaiming the gun, having been distracted by the announcement. "Identify yourselves, now. You're not with the military, are you? What were you doing in that machine," she finished in a near growl.

"Lower your weapons," the man responded in a firm, commanding voice, holding his position in front of his companion. He leveled a slight glare and didn't even flinch at the possible threat. "This is Miss Cagalli Yula Athha, Chief Representative of the Orb Union. I am her aid and bodyguard, my name is Alex Dino."

"Athha? From Orb?" she stuttered, suddenly recognizing the two from last night's banquet. She shakily passed the machine pistol back to the guard she had commandeered it from. And felt the intense urge to sit down as she controlled a slow, embarrassed blush.

"We were meeting with Chairman Durandal when we were caught up in the commotion. Our only option was to defend ourselves using this and another ZAKU. The representative has been injured and needs immediate medical attention."

As the woman, ' _ATHHA!_ ' she mentally screamed, reached forward to place a hand on her bodyguard's shoulder, she saw a large gash on the representative's forehead, two trickles of blood making their way down the side of her head.

"Ah, of course. Follow me."

As she led them towards an exit, the door in front of them whooshed open and Alfrid came charging out. He scrambled to a stop and took in her unnerved appearance.

"Luna? Are you alright?"

"Aside from nearly causing an international incident and a bruised pride, yeah," she remarked ruefully

"What happened?" her temporary commander demanded. "Never mind actually, the ZAKU that just landed has my full authorization. I'm certain it contains one of Representative Athha's bodyguards. They saved my keister out there from the Gaia."

"And that's where I wish you had called earlier. It was the other bodyguard, not La Flaga but the younger one, and the Chief Representative, herself. I didn't recognize them and ended up pointing a gun at them."

He winced at her mistake, but broke into a hesitant grin. "Better you than Shinn," Alfrid tried to reassure her.

"Yeah well, I'm taking them to the medical center. Representative Athha was apparently piloting the ZAKU that got taken down by the Diamond Strike and has a head wound."

"Take them there immediately," he ordered.

"Roger."

With that he resumed his rush to get back into his mobile suit, scrambling up the side and into the cockpit without the aid of the zipline. Meanwhile, she led her detainees and the two security guards into the _Minerva_ itself and towards the infirmary.

"Is this ship escaping?" Athha asked her. "Is the damage to the PLANT really as bad as all that?"

Luna would've loved to answer her questions, if only to make up for her earlier mistake, but she honestly no more idea than they did.

Suddenly, Meyrin's voice came over the intercom again. "The _Minerva_ is heading out. Condition Red is announced. Condition Red is announced. All weapons free. Prepare to fire on command."

"Is this ship getting ready to go into battle?" Athha's bodyguard demanded incredulously.

"Athrun," she snapped at him, causing Luna to nearly trip over herself in shock. Righting herself, she whirled to face them.

"Athrun?" she asked, another name cropping to mind. ' _Zala?'_

Their escorts were as surprised as her, blinking in shock. Athha, put a hand to her head and a dark look stole across 'Alex Dino's' face so fast she thought she was imagining things. If he really was Athrun Zala, then things had suddenly gotten much more complicated.

* * *

For a brief moment, Rey felt the urge to attack the Strike, to destroy one of the people responsible for Rau's death. However, attacking the Strike wouldn't serve any other purpose and would likely cause difficulties. And if he missed, his more experienced "son" would likely destroy him. He'd have to keep his hopes for destroying Mwu La Flaga and Kira Yamato to himself for now. Besides, the Earth Alliance mobile armors and their gunbarrel systems were providing enough of a challenge as it was.

A small miracle meant that every one of the _Minerva_ 's ZAKUs was still functioning, but close to a score of other ZAFT mobile suits that had been sucked out were now destroyed. His Newtype senses also indicated that someone besides La Flaga had the same gift, and he was fighting against them.

Suddenly, his sensors alerted him to the developing situation as the _Minerva_ had launched and was now approaching the battle at flank speed. He blocked another volley of gunbarrel fire and took out a pair of pods with precision firing. Then he realized that space had begun to thin. The incoming fire was no longer as heavy and his computer was informing him that the majority of the mobile armors had broken off contact. At the same time, several spots of light from the _Minerva_ indicated they were ordering their retreat.

"The return signal, but why?" Shinn demanded.

"It's an order," Rey merely responded.

Suddenly a scream of pain came over the _Minerva_ 's mobile suit frequency. He checked his screen in time to see Jack Immolo's signal disappear. The _Minerva_ had suffered its first loss of the war. He knew that Jack likely wouldn't have survived. He was a so-so pilot and didn't really possess the killing spirit that would be needed. Better that his sacrifice motivated the others.

* * *

Back on the _Minerva's_ bridge, Captain Gladys gazed out at their opponent. Their first round of missiles had been easily demolished by the enemy ship's CIWS.

"Arthur, fire signal flares, we need to recover our mobile suits as fast as possible."

The trio of bright explosions shone brightly across the _Minerva's_ hull and their mobile suits began filtering back. Suddenly, Alfrid Dreka's face popped up on the comm screen.

"I'm just checking in to confirm your order to withdraw ma'am."

"That's correct. Our mobile suits don't have the speed to engage the fleeing vessel. And I don't want to find myself in a combat situation without our full strength."

"I copy. I also regret to inform you of Ensign Immolo's death. He was killed by the last enemy pilot's parting shot. The beam hit his battery and the suit exploded with no chance of his survival."

"Very well."

She idly wondered what would come of this. Immolo kept to himself and had no close friends among the crew, but it would undoubtedly leave at least some of her pilots chomping at the bit to avenge their comrade.

"Get back aboard the ship as fast as possible. We are setting off in pursuit of the enemy ship."

"Yes ma'am, activating magnetic attachments now." With that, the transmission winked out.

"Go to flank speed. Disable the Tristans and reroute all their power to the Isolde. Target their engines."

Like the Valiant linear cannons of the Earth Alliance's _Archangel_ -class, the Isolde triple cannon was a projectile weapon that fired specially accelerated solid munitions. The speed of the shots and the rate of fire were regulated by how much power was conducted into the weapon system. It was also more useful for firing disabling shots than high-power laser cannons, like the Tristans.

"Ma'am, the enemy ship has detached part of its hull," Arthur reported from the CIC commander's chair.

The view screens confirmed this as two long beams with a bulky end each spiraled in the wake of their fleeing target.

"Magnify them!" she snapped. The image complied, zooming in on the innocuous objects.

She quickly scanned them, guessing that they were some sort of instrument that had helped aid their stealthed approach. She couldn't guess at the reason for the wiry structures, perhaps they absorbed fuel material or acted as sails. However, the bulky parts were obviously some sort of gas-propulsion engines. ' _Gas-propulsion engines,_ ' she realized in horror.

"Raise bow thirty, bank hard to starboard, bring our last pilots in NOW!" She opened a ship-wide comm circuit. "All hands, brace for impact."

The ship complied with an agility that belied its size and bulk. The last two mobile suits were rushed into the starboard hanger and the blast door sealed. And just in time. The screens flared white as the two discarded attachments, improvised as bombs, exploded. The entire ship shook from the force. But the bottom hull of the _Minerva_ had been specially reinforced just for the purpose of maneuvers like this. Firing shots at the explosives could've provoked uncontrolled detonations. Instead they'd taken the blow on the toughest part of the ship, like a tank from the Anno Domini era would keep their front pointed towards an opponent.

"Minor warping of the ventral armor, no breaches, all weapon systems functioning normally," Arthur rattled off from his station, allowing her to sigh in relief from the lack of serious damage.

"Launch anti-beam depth charges," she ordered.

The countermeasures flew off, but less than a second later, she realized the enemy commander was better than she gave them credit for. Too many captains would take the opportunity to attack her distracted ship and could be drawn into a fight. Whoever this was either had the brains to continue their retreat instead of trying to fighting a stricken foe.

"That took nerve," she growled.

"Enemy ship! Red 88 Mark 6 Charlie. Distance 500. Bearing two-four-zero." Lieutenant Heim read off from his station.

"They seem to be a first-class unit," Durandal remarked from his seat.

"All the more reason why we mustn't let them get away. In light of the damage they caused with their initial force, imagine what harm they might cause with the stolen machines. And it would be best if we found out WHO they are. In all likelihood, they are an Earth Forces black operations units, but we can't rule out the possibility of extremists with extensive resources, or even Zalaite terrorists."

"Yes. I agree that recovering the stolen machines and finding out who is responsible for this crisis should be our top priority."

"I believe we should continue our pursuit of the enemy vessel and capture or destroy them at all costs. However, we must make our decision immediately," Restraining a weary sigh, she continued, "if we want to pursue them, then we cannot afford the delay that would be required to have you disembark Mr. Chairman."

"There's no need to worry about me Talia," he assured her in the warm voice she once knew so well. "If we were to neglect the situation for my comfort, it would send a message of weakness after this tragedy. If we ignored these affronts, our unknown foe may become bolder still. Our duty is clear: we must not allow the lives already lost to have been wasted."

"Very well," she acknowledged. "Track the enemy vessel. I want an estimated destination point."

"Ma'am, their current course would lead them towards Lagrange Point Three."

"Why would they be heading to L3, there is nothing out there of sufficient capacity to act as base?" Gilbert pondered out loud.

"Excuse me Chairman," Alfrid spoke up, startling her as she'd not registered his and Rey's entrances. "But that is not strictly the case. Nothing active is in Lagrange Three, but the Artemis asteroid fortress would be the perfect basing for a black ops unit affiliated with OMNI or Blue Cosmos."

Alfrid's opinion was a sensible idea. Artemis had been an effective fortress only because it guarded nothing of real value. When the Archangel had made its daring journey from Heliopolis to Earth, its stay at the well-shielded asteroid had brought about its end. While the Le Creuset Team's efforts had only inflicted minimal damage, the combination of the embarrassing affair coupled with the losses suffered at JOSH-A had led the Eurasian Confederacy to abandon it. It had been left to drift in orbit ever since.

"Thank you for correcting me young man," Durandal acceded. "Your name?"

"Alfrid Dreka, sir," the young pilot responded, snapping to a salute.

"Ah yes, the temporary mobile suit wing commander. Any relation to the Dragon of ZAFT?"

"My father."

"Thank you for satisfying my curiosity, at ease," he dismissed Alfrid with a wave of his hand. "If this group is indeed heading for L3, then the young man's prediction may prove accurate. Are there any patrolling units that could be of assistance?"

"Yes Mr. Chairman," she responded, glad to have focused his attention back to the situation at hand. She had no problem with idle conversation with the battle's temporary end, but she wanted a clear goal before the bridge degenerate into small talk. "Group Commander Haddock's force should be only a matter of hours from an appropriate rendezvous."

"Then it's settled. Contact him at once so that our forces can link up as soon as possible."

"Very well," she acknowledged. "Set a course for the Artemis orbital base. Engines to maximum. I want a line opened to the _Aesir_."

Lieutenant-Commander Yardbirds announced their course alteration from the helm and Lieutenant Windsor began manipulating the controls on her counsel to establish communications. Arthur grabbed his communications headset and began relaying their status throughout the ship.

"Raise the bridge, go to Condition Yellow, but be prepared to announce a return to combat status if they decide to turn and fight." she commanded, turning towards her old flame. "Feel free to use my cabin to get some rest Mr. Chairman. The _Minerva_ was designed to be capable of outrunning even the _Eternal_ , but it appears the enemy ship has similar capabilities. Rey, please show him to his quarters."

"Ma'am," the platinum-haired pilot nodded in acknowledgement.

Suddenly Alfrid let out a curse.

"Alfrid, what is it?"

"Ma'am, I apologize for my forgetfulness, but the battle occupied too much of my attention. I actually came up here to make my report in person. One of the mobile suits out there was the Strike Gundam piloted by Mwu La Flaga. I know for a fact that the Chief Representative is onboard the ship and I gave my authorization for him to land. He, the Representative, and her other bodyguard were instrumental in helping to contain the captured machines and preventing them from inflicting even more damage."

"WHAT?!" Arthur's exclamation filled the bridge, the normally relaxed individual going rigged in shock.

"The Princess?" Gilbert clarified.

"Uh… Yes sir. Lunamaria… Er Lieutenant Hawke was taking her and her bodyguard Alex Dino to the infirmary."

"What happened?" Captain Gladys broke in.

"I'm not sure ma'am, but the representative was injured somehow while piloting one of our ZAKUs."

She resisted the temptation to rub her forehead to drive away the building ache in it. Not only had their prime military instillation been trashed and several of their Gundam mobile suits taken, but now their ship was playing host to the leader of a foreign nation as well as their own head of state. Such a situation would drive even admirals to distraction, let alone a captain placed in charge of a new ship. Still, she couldn't afford to focus on anything outside of the present battle. This one ship had blasted through numerous _Nazca_ \- and _Laurasia_ -class vessels without significant damage. That told her the ship itself was top-of-the-line and such a weapon had to be captained by an experienced and capable officer. A comm beeping broke her out of her revere

"Transmission from the medical quarter ma'am," Meyrin spoke up.

"Put it on the main screen."

"Captain," Luna saluted as her face appeared overhead.

"I assume you're calling about Representative Athha and her companions?"

"Yes ma'am. Lieutenant-Commander Dreka appraised you of the situation?"

"He did, please find any empty officer's quarters and ask that they remain there until we have finished assessing the situation and making preparations to confront Bogey One," she ordered the younger woman.

"Understood."

"I believe I should greet our guests and see to their comfort," Gilbert remarked. "Rey, if you would?"

The two men walked out of the bridge. Alfrid snapped to attention as he turned his attention back towards her.

"I'll see to my pilots ma'am and prepare to brief them on the expected situation."

"Agreed, have the briefing occur at," she glanced at the clock and ran a quick mental calculation. "Eight hundred hours."

"Yes ma'am. If you'll excuse me, I need to make arrangements with Rey to have him act as my temporary executive officer. Please send all available data on the new models to him."

"Please try to get some sleep, I can't have my mobile suit contingent commander dropping of exhaustion during our maiden voyage."

"No promises. Events like these are why the gods gave us soda."

He followed after the Chairman and his fellow pilot. Gladys was finally able to turn her attention back to the emptiness of space.

"Inform me of any new developments," she ordered, rising from her seat to look in on their unexpected arrivals.

* * *

Neo gazed solemnly over the statistics indicating their losses. They'd lost twenty-nine mobile suits, more than half of the contingent they had set out with. Two Exus pilots had also been lost in the brief fight outside Armory One. The first had fallen against the Strike Gundam piloted by Mwu La Flaga, who'd also taken out several gunbarrels from various units. The other had been destroyed by the previously unknown Gundam and a white ZAKU working together with unprecedented coordination. Three of the five redesigned G-series weapons had not been present and the confusion had caused the deaths of three of his Extended pilots. And that had all been with the element of surprise on their side.

But on the other hand, they'd achieved a great victory. They'd acquired six Gundams, one of them nuclear-powered. Combat footage indicated that almost two hundred ZAFT mobile suits had been destroyed or badly damaged. Nearly a dozen of ZAFT's warships had been demolished. And they now had first-hand knowledge of ZAFT's newest toys. The mirage colloid-equipped Slaughter Daggers had also reported in safe from the dark ops base hidden within a small asteroid whose orbit would take it into a recovery area soon.

A number of superiors would grumble over the loss of Extended and failure to capture all of ZAFT's Gundams, but the one that mattered wouldn't. Djibrill wasn't a man who tolerated failure, but a partial success against the odds was sufficient. Particularly since the nuclear Gundam wasn't even believed to exist. Of course, they would still have to explain their losses to him.

Beside him, Zabi Almark was fidgeting nervously. To be honest, Neo couldn't blame him. Almark was the pinnacle of their Generation Five Extended Project, almost completely in control of himself, making him the ideal leader of a tactical combat unit. It was an enormous contrast to the remorseless, and emotionless Bask, the only "successful" Generation Six Extended. Even so, all the ability in the world wouldn't help Almark if Djibrill wanted him to be killed. Perfect Extended or not, he was still just an Extended and therefore expendable.

The screen flared to life revealing the epicurean face of their nominal commander.

"Lord Djibrill," they both said, bowing their heads.

"Ah Neo, and Zabi, how good it is to see you both. I trust our little plan was a success?"

Zabi gulped audibly. "To an extent sir."

"Oh?"

"Mission objectives ZGMF-21G Diamond Strike, ZGMF-74G Onyx Blitz, ZGMF-X24S Chaos, ZGMF-X31S Abyss, and ZGMF-X88S Gaia were captured and secured aboard the _Girty Lue_. We were also successful in obtaining the nuclear Gundam, designation: ZGMF-X42S Legend. However, three of the redesigned G-series weapons, designations: ZGMF-43G Sapphire Duel, ZGMF-22G Ruby Aegis, and ZGMF-85G Emerald Buster, were not present and I lost three of my pilots. Aside from events beyond our control, all acquired Gundams escaped with minimal damage."

"And why did you lose those pilots?"

"A ZAFT security team got the drop on us because the Onyx Blitz's assigned pilot delayed any attempt to board with a passenger. I felt using his block word would be counterproductive since Captain Roanoke was not in position. I was able to observe their countermeasures activate and begin to dissolve their bodies though."

"Very well, you may go," Djibrill dismissed him. The Extended gave a quick bow and moved slowly out of the transmission's view range. Neo pointedly ignored the shudders from his subordinate as he broke into a full run.

"You did an adequate job Neo. But I will expect results in the coming war."

Neo suppressed a spasm of panic, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"Yes sir, we'll resupply with the _Nana Buluku_ and then shake the _Minerva's_ pursuit in the Debris Field."

"See that you do."

With that, the transmission blinked out. And he was able to release a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Shutting down the communications counsel, Neo rose from his office chair and made his way back towards the bridge.

"Any sign of pursuit?" he questioned his second-in-command as he exited his quarters.

"No sir," Lee responded. "Are you sure that they will assign their new ship to come after us."

"If our intelligence is correct, it is the single fastest vessel in their fleet and is likely an even match for our own." He explained the reasoning behind the opinion of who their pursuer would be. "And don't forget it was designed to carry and test the exact machines we just stole. It'll be at the forefront of any recovery operation they launch."

"Speaking of the mobile suits, how are the pilots?"

"I'm having Almark monitor them. They're all sleeping like peaceful babes. Block words unfortunately had to be utilized for both Stella and Scirocco. But a little memory alteration and they'll be ready for combat before we reach the _Nana Buluku_."

"Even with the success of this operation. You'll have to forgive me if I remain skeptical of the Extended Project. I lost several pilots to 'friendly' fire during the last war thanks to Phase Three."

"Yes, but unlike those eight, this group is capable of comprehending orders AND following them."

"Except for Bask."

"Except for Bask," Neo acknowledged. "Personally, I was hoping that he would die on that fool's errand, but until he fires on us, I'll reserve judgment. Even if we wanted to, we don't exactly have the authority to prevent him from playing with his new toy without justification."

"You have a point," Lee bowed his head in thought. "But he has already demonstrated a willingness to disregard allies."

"Yes well, Gen Six is in the trial stages. Just like most of our new generation of mobile armors. Just like almost everything else these days. Hopefully, the advantages we gain from this theft will intimidate ZAFT into staying peaceful. They wanted an arms race, now they've got one."

* * *

 _'She seems shorter than she looks on the news,'_ was the thought dominating Luna's mind as she watched the Orb ruler out of the corner of her eye.

The Chief Representative was currently meeting with the Chairman and Captain Gladys over the provisions to be made for her and her bodyguards, Alex Dino and Mwu La Flaga. And discussing the events and what they knew about the attackers. Representative Athha had even volunteered the aid of Captain La Flaga flying the Strike Gundam against the "rogue military faction," something that had Alfrid positively bouncing off the ceiling as he whispered her meaning. Since their attackers had not identified themselves as Earth Alliance, or more likely Atlantic Federation, Orb would not face any political consequences in the matter for aiding ZAFT.

The elder of Athha's two aids was leaning casually against one of the walls, a satisfied smirk on his face that she couldn't figure out for the life of her. His boyish yet chiseled face made him quite handsome, though she had no interest in pursuing a man who had at least a decade on her.

The other guard, despite being younger, was infinitely more alert. He held a strict stance directly to the left and behind his charge. His face was handsome, with even the scar doing little to detract from his looks. And there was a powerful intensity in his gaze that spoke of a heightened caution, not really surprising considering they'd been in the middle of a diplomatic meeting when the shit hit the fan. That gaze shifted from person-to-person at unpredictable intervals, though he seemed unusually focused on Rey, who likewise seemed to almost be trying to engage the other young man in a staring contest. And then there was his name.

He said it was Alex Dino. But the Representative had called him Athrun.

Luna wasn't some genius in biology or physics or a dozen other things, but she was by no means stupid. There was only one person with the name Athrun who would feel compelled to hide it while visiting the PLANTs. Former Chairman Patrick Zala's son, _Athrun Zala_ , a member of the elite Le Creuset Team, the pilot of the Aegis and Justice Gundams, a proclaimed traitor, and; according to some; his father's executioner. He was also the man who had saved the Earth, and almost certainly both the Natural and Coordinator races, by destroying the super-weapon GENESIS.

His formal status was missing in action, though many believed he had sought refuge in Orb, as was apparently the case if her suspicion was correct. Frankly she couldn't blame him. She'd heard enough Zalaites go off on drunken rants about how he'd 'denied Coordinators their destiny' and 'betrayed every one of us.' She'd have given him two weeks tops, assuming ZAFT didn't execute him as a deserter.

These days, opinion was more mixed. Some veterans and especially higher ranking officers were still in favor of him being prosecuted if he ever resurfaced within ZAFT's jurisdiction. However, most of the recruits and civilians saw him as a hero who had fought against his own father to prevent something that even many Zalaites were uncomfortable thinking about, protesting that their fallen idol meant to merely hold the Earth to ransom. But that hadn't changed the fact that GENESIS's firing would've wiped out neutral and allied countries along with the Earth Alliance.

"Thank you for being so understanding Princess, you do not disappoint," the Chairman seemed to be finishing. And it may have been her imagination, but all three of their visitors seemed to have given him brief glares at the word 'Princess.' Which she could understand given that the woman before her was more equal to a queen in rank and dozens of stories would attest to her being even more tomboyish than Luna. "If you like, I would be pleased to give you a guided tour of the ship if you are feeling well."

"Sir," Captain Gladys protested. Both Alfrid and Rey also looked taken aback at the idea of showing their newest warship to a foreign head of state.

"However temporary it may be, we are asking them to place their lives in our hands. And they are being exceptionally generous in offering to aid us in our recapture of the stolen mobile suits. Surely we can afford to make a gesture of good faith towards our friends. Besides, confining them to quarters would make seem as though we regard them as prisoners. An insult I doubt Orb would abide," the Chairman reasoned, receiving a nod of acceptance from her captain.

"I accept your offer Chairman Durandal," the blonde woman agreed.

The meeting broke up about there. Rey accompanied the Chairman on the tour as impromptu attendants, the Captain returned to the bridge, and Alfrid went off towards the ready room, muttering something about a briefing. She decided to head down towards the hanger and hopefully keep Shinn out of trouble. Maybe she should've signed up for something easier, like taking on the entire Earth Alliance with a potato gun.

* * *

As Shinn floated through the hanger, Aves was chewing out the repair teams as they scrambled around like a pack of rats, removing and replacing damaged panels from the various ZAKUs standing like silent sentinels. He noted with a degree of pleasure that the Impulse was in need of no such repairs. He also saw that one of the ZAKUs, a plain Warrior was virtually abandoned. He realized with a mild shock that it was the same one that had interfered and saved his life against the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss.

He spotted Luna running a mild systems check over in her Phantom and ghosted over to her.

She looked up and it seemed like she became more guarded. "Hey Shinn, what is it?"

"Hi Luna," he greeted. "Pretty crazy fight out there huh?"

A rather flat expression was her immediate response. "Yolant screwed up when looking at my engines. I had to head back to the ship and missed it."

"Oh. But since you were in here the entire fight, any clue who the pilot of that ZAKU is over there? He and his buddy were a big help and even saved my life. I'd like to know if the pilots are going to be helping out."

Luna looked like she was torn over answering, but seemed to decide in favor of telling him. "You won't believe me, but it was Representative Athha and her bodyguard, Alex Dino."

"WHAT?!" he demanded in shock. He owed his life to that self-righteous hag? "Tell me this is a bad joke Luna."

"No Shinn. They were meeting with the Chairman over the situation with the Orb refugees." Shinn rolled his eyes at that.

He'd heard a couple rumors here and there about accusations of ZAFT forcing the Orb refugees to stay in the PLANTs and that their relatives back in Orb were making a fuss over it. He didn't really associate with the majority of his fellow immigrants considering that there were far too many who couldn't get the Athhas' arrogance through their heads. Hell, he'd be willing to bet that it was Orb that was forcing people to stay. And so what if people had to stay in the PLANTs, better than being ruled by some stupid girl's idiocy and hormones. Admittedly, he knew mentioning that last bit would get him clobbered in present company.

As it was he merely grunted.

"But yeah, they got caught up in the fighting and had to commandeer two ZAKUs to try and stay safe. That one was apparently piloted by the bodyguard and, from what they said, saved your life." He merely nodded in acknowledgement, refusing to believe that he owed his life in any way to _her_. "But the one named Alex, I think it might be Athrun Zala. She called him that, Athrun, when she was injured."

" _Athrun Zala?_ " Shinn gapped. He reeled back in disbelief. Athrun Zala was one of the few people he actually did believe was one of the heroes of the last war. He was one of the most brilliant pilots ever produced by ZAFT and several of the training simulations they had been put through, some of the most difficult, had been based on events in his career. He'd gained entry into the illustrious Order of the Nebula (an award that had only been given out twenty other times during the war) for defeating the Strike in single combat. When ZAFT had descended into madness, he'd defected and joined the so-called Three Ship Alliance. Flying the Justice, he protected the PLANTs from the Earth Forces's nuclear assault. Fighting his way into Jachin Due, it was widely whispered that he had fired the shot that ended Patrick Zala's madness before self-destructing the Justice within GENESIS and blowing it to hell.

"Yeah but it makes sense," Luna continued. "He's obviously an incredibly skilled pilot and there are all those rumors that Athrun Zala and the most of the Three Ship Alliance settled in Orb."

As much as it galled him, Shinn didn't even really wonder why he may have chosen to live in Orb as most of those rumors went. He was decidedly unwelcome in a ZAFT filled with Patrick Zala's supporters, not to mention possible charges of desertion and treason. Going towards a member state of the Earth Alliance would've been suicide at best. And most of Earth's neutral nations had proven to be quite capitulary when OMNI asked that they join. Orb was really the only option left for a Coordinator fleeing the PLANTs. What he couldn't understand was why he hadn't tried to come back now that so many saw him as a hero.

"And then there's the Impulse, utilizing a unique launch system. I understand that you had the opportunity to see it in action," a smooth silky voice drifted over to where he was running and final external test on the Impulse's systems.

"Yes, we did," a male tone replied.

"Reminds me a lot of the Strike," another man's voice noted with pride.

"According to the designers, this is a completely new, highly efficient system. Then again, I'd be the first to admit I'm not exactly knowledgeable in these matters. But I take it that the Princess does not much care for this?"

"Well you seem happy about it, Mister Chairman," a female voice responded this time.

Shinn looked over his shoulder and up as a smile made its way across his face at the sight of the Chairman. Judging by his gestures and words, he was introducing someone to his machine. And everything he said was true; the Impulse was top-of-the-line and represented the culmination of the entire Second Generation Gundam Program. There were even rumors that three new modules would give it abilities similar to the Gaia, Chaos, and Abyss.

"It's not that I'm happy about it," Chairman Durandal mused and then continued in introducing the pride of ZAFT and why it was so great. "My feelings stem from the thought of how hard everyone is working, of how far they have come through so much adversity, and gained such strength."

"Such strength…" And it was then that Shinn noticed who he was addressing: Chief Representative Athha. Instantly, a wave of fury rushed through his blood at the sight of the newest hypocrite to rule Orb. "You said that strength is necessary because there will always be conflict, Mister Chairman."

"Yes," the head of the PLANTs replied.

"Then please explain how these events occurred. A few Gundams are more than enough for any country, but you have developed ten!" that woman ranted. "Not only have you created a prize for a raid such as the one we just witnessed, but you developed a nuclear Gundam in violation of the Junius Seven Treaty. If these thieves turn out not to be members of the Earth Alliance, then you might well have handed such powerful weapon over to dangerous individuals that are not restrained by treaties as we are."

"And therefore, you believe that we shouldn't have any power at all?" Shinn felt a righteous indignation course through him at the thought of anyone telling them what to do.

She was no different to her father. Her father, Uzumi Nara Athha, who had condemned Orb to burn rather than compromise on his precious ideals. Uzumi Nara Athha, who had betrayed those very ideals by building mobile suits for the Earth Alliance, then stonewalled when the inevitable betrayal came. Uzumi Nara Athha, who by his own cowardice and incompetence had cast his nation into the flame.

"No! I would never say that anyone doesn't have the right to defend themselves. But what do you have to defend yourselves from? The Earth is at peace. But we may not remain at peace with rising tensions and now this!"

And still she spouted those ideals. Still she talked about 'treaties, 'obligations,' and 'promises,' as if those things really meant anything. She would have the PLANTs throw away their weapons, leave themselves naked and defenseless before a hostile world.

"That is true," the Chairman "However…"

"Idealism and hypocrisy have always been House Athha's specialties, haven't they?!"

The words cut through the atmosphere like a blade.

"Shinn!" Vino blurted out from where he was floating nearby.

"Shinn!" barked Rey, his outrage evident and Shinn felt a momentary twinge of guilt for upsetting his friend. But that didn't stop him from turning just enough to glare one blood-red eye at the woman whose father had ruined his life and killed his family.

Rey reached the lower floor, grabbing Shinn by his lapel. "I'm very sorry Mister Chairman!" Rey stood to attention (more or less with a struggling Shinn held by one hand), looking up at the walkway. "He will be disciplined for his actions!" Shinn fought him off with a hiss of anger, and then prepared to launch himself away when another voice interjected.

"Shinn! Rey!"

Alfrid floated down, fury seeping off him like a sweaty odor. He landed with an audible bang and calmly marched over to both of them. Shinn's only response was to roll his eyes at the arrogant prat who was apparently going power-mad in Commander Joule's absence. Despite the obvious anger, his expression was relatively neutral.

"Rey, you are not his superior officer and therefore have no authority over him. I was considering you to serve as my temporary executive officer, but I believe that to be a mistake in light of this. Now, you are dismissed."

Only when Rey refused to moved did Alfrid's calm slip and a noticeable scowl emerge. "You are dismissed Lieutenant Za Burrel."

Rey let off a quick salute and drifted away, returning the glare briefly. Ignoring Rey's bare-respect, Alfrid whirled almost directly into Shinn's face. "Shinn, I believe Commander Joule mentioned the Impulse being scrapped and you performing combat launches in just a flight suit should you embarrass ZAFT. As it is, I'll be lenient. KP duty for one week starting now, up to the galley."

With that he spun on his heel and faced the visiting bitch. Shinn flipped him the bird and pushed himself away towards a different exit. "You can consider your punishment upgraded to two weeks for that First Lieutenant Asuka," Alfrid called after him. Cursing silently, Shinn strode through the door and towards the kitchen. And all he could do was grit his teeth and bare it.

He was angry. He was furious. That they had to ferry Cagalli Yula Athha around was bad enough. But for her to keep on spouting that pacifistic claptrap, to the Chairman's face, in the presence of ZAFT soldiers, was more than he could tolerate. And what was worse, he was the only one with the balls to call her out on it.

' _They haven't changed!_ ' he thought, slamming on the entrance panel a little too hard. "Damn them! Damn them all to hell!"

All because her precious Orb might be in danger. All because she was scared. Scared of the new world that was coming, a world in which Coordinators might be a little bit better off.

All right, he shouldn't have said it out loud. He could accept that his conduct in the hangar was not what was expected of ZAFT soldiers. Rey would give him enough of an earful later about how he had embarrassed the Chairman, and how he would have to apologize for it later.

He would apologize to the Chairman if the Captain insisted. But nothing would make him apologize to the Athha. Not the threat of the brig, nor even being kicked out of ZAFT. He had been told more than once that his anger would cost him, but it was better than the alternative. And she needed to know that not everyone lived in her perfect world. Someone had to wake them up.

* * *

The familiar sights, sounds, and smells of a mobile suit hangar had assailed Cagalli as soon as she had stepped out of the lift. The normally comforting environment only made her already much-abused head ache. The _Minerva's_ doctor and nurse had done their best, but the bump she had taken inside the ZAKU's cockpit when it was destroyed by the new Strike continued to irritate her. The only true source of comfort was that Athrun was close behind her, a presence for which she felt profoundly grateful.

The Chairman's stare was both warm and cold, near unbearable to her and she could not hold it for long. There was something in those eyes that set her teeth on edge. Cagalli knew he was trying to annoy her. She knew that he was trying to provoke her, to goad her into mouthing off so he could shoot her down again. Knowing it didn't make it any easier to take. She could only deflect the issue, buy herself some time. If the Chairman was in any way offended by her words, he made no show of it. In fact, he seemed merely amused, as if confronted by a presumptuous child.

And that blond myrmidon of his was making it worse, looking at her as if she were giving off a bad smell. Or analyzing how to kill her. She could tell in his very posture throughout the tore that he would gladly give his life for the Chairman. That he would kill if commanded. And he also sent more than a few glares towards Mwu, perhaps because of his reputation. She had hoped from the Chairman's moderate view that the racism against naturals had declined. The first emotion other than low-grade suspicion Cagalli had seen on his face all day was when he leapt down from the platform to berate the other young man who had insulted her family. That violent, rage-filled gaze had unnerved her as few things had since the end of the great war.

"My sincerest apologies Princess." To Cagalli's surprise, Durandal actually sounded serious. "I happen to know that young pilot, however distantly. He's an immigrant from Orb, and as such that kind of statement was the last thing I expected from him." Durandal closed his eyes, as if he genuinely found the whole thing rather embarrassing.

Cagalli looked away, wondering what she or her family had done to enrage the young man so.

An amused snort announced the arrival of the _Minerva's_ mobile suit commander. "My apologizes Miss Representative. I'm afraid that young man needs counseling. And anger management," at this he adopted a thoughtful expression before continuing. "I'd also recommend he be medicated. Heavily."

He was obviously trying to lighten the mood. And seeing a person totally at ease and with a relatively good attitude that was genuine was at least able to ease her frayed nerves, if only minimally.

"Please follow me ma'am. Dinner will be served momentarily. I'll do my best to ensure Shinn doesn't poison you," he briefly inclined his head towards the Chairman. "Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, I would call you a fairly poor judge of character for a politician if you believe Shinn capable of holding his temper in check."

He guided the trio down the _Minerva's_ halls towards the cafeteria grumbling about the angry pilot from the sound of things.

"You said you were the Dragon of ZAFT's son right?" Mwu spoke up.

"Yep, Alfrid Dreka" the young man reintroduced himself with an exaggerated bow.

"Good man, good pilot, by all accounts," Mwu continued.

"That he was, the best," Alfrid agreed. "But I don't think he would be entirely approving of what's been going on."

"Oh?"

"Well, like your boss said, we don't need an entire squadron of Gundams. I haven't heard any rumors about the Earth Alliance developing new ones so only three or four should be adequate. And that nuclear Gundam crossed a line. We don't need to mess around with that kind of trouble."

"You don't like the Chairman?" Mwu gapped, having thought Durandal's detractors were mainly raving Zalaites.

"I neither like nor dislike him. I support a lot of his policies, but the new Gundam program probably went a bridge too far. Anyway here we are," with that he stopped and opened a door into a spacious room where a number of people were already enjoying their evening meal. "Officer's mess. I'd say visiting dignitaries apply. Besides, I had the standard fare of the non-coms once. My respect for them, or at least their stomachs, grew substantially."

They queued up for the serving line and quickly began gathering appealing looking meal items. They sat down and dug in vigorously, with Alfrid occasionally calling over the other Red Coats to chat before they headed to the line to get their own meals. Suddenly an authoritative male voice sounded over the intercom.

"Attention all crew. At oh-eight-hundred hours tomorrow we will be joining with the task force of Group Commander Haddock. We will then commence an assault on the suspected base of the enemy vessel designated as Bogie One. The believed location is Artemis, so all mobile suit pilots be ready to fight in close quarters. We will not stop our pursuit until the enemy is captured or destroyed. That is all."

Alfrid stood up and cleared his throat. "Alright, you all heard the Vice-Captain's announcement. It is twenty-one-hundred hours so that means I want all you pilots to start heading to bed. I'm calling a combat briefing is at oh-seven-hundred to establish our role and make sure everyone is aware of every single trick we know those suits can perform. Make sure those who aren't here get word. SHINN!" he called into the back.

"Yeah?" a very annoyed voice echoed back after a long pause.

"You're done with galley duty for the day. We'll need you tomorrow so head to bed. Captain La Flaga, I know you volunteered to give us a hand in this affair. You're under no obligation to attend, but I'd appreciate your input."

"The one thing I miss the most from the war: early morning briefings," her bodyguard remarked sardonically. "Oh well, could be worse."

"It is," the other pilot stated blandly. "Coffee is non-organic."

"Now that is against some treaty or other."

With a laugh, the oddly chipper pilot waltzed off.

"Odd guy," Mwu remarked.

"I believe that is an example of the pot calling the kettle black," Athrun observed.

"Eh, probably."

"I think it would be best to retire," she spoke up, feeling rather tired.

"Yeah, the sooner I go to bed the sooner I can get the torture of an early morning over with."

They walked down the corridor towards their assigned quarters. Mwu went in through one door and Athrun was about to follow when she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Athrun, can we just talk. Just for a bit."

"Sure."

She opened her door and he followed her inside.

* * *

After quickly meeting with the Vice-Captain, Alfrid ran towards the pilots' wing of the officers' quarters. He reached the door that marked his destination and quickly opened it.

"Hey Sam, you're my XO until I say otherwise. You'll be getting the data relatively soon. We'll be up a lot tonight organizing it. Let's go."

Ignoring the grumbles about tyrannical officers, Alfrid lead his new second-in-command to his and Dearka's quarters. They had a lot of work to do, and only so much time to do it.

 **A/N: As promised on the first Sunday of the month, chapter two. Just in case though, you should go back and read chapter one since I've tweaked and added on to it. Enjoy.**

 **One of the more interesting aspects of Gundam SEED Destiny is how the times spent in space are relatively shorter than those of SEED with SEED's taking place over a month apiece while Destiny's are only days (possibly hours). I decided to extend these sequences a little. So next up, we're going to have a full mobile suit battle described, wish me luck. Of course, I hope to have up to the Fall of Junius Seven completed before I start posting so any luck would be retroactive.**

 **At the end of some chapters, I'll give character blurbs explaining some changes; first up Cagalli.**

 **This version of Cagalli has been ruling Orb for four years and is a much more adept politician. She's also militarily competent since she was well-involved with planning the defense of Orb during the war with the Republic of East Asia. She gained a good deal of political credit for personally leading the Orb forces during the war, but that has been drained away over the years. I was trying to convey that she acknowledges the PLANTs' right to defend themselves, with her grievance being more against Orb's citizens being forced to stay in the PLANTs and the construction of the Gundams. I'm hoping to continue this line of her being mature, while still valuing the ideals she was taught as a child.**

 **Just remember, the more reviews I get, the more I know that people are reading and enjoying my story. The longer the reviews are, the more I enjoy them because they tell me what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong as an author. Also, feel free to send me p.m.s asking for clarifications and the like.**


	3. Phase Three: Pursuit

**Disclaimer: I officially own Gundam SEED Destiny. At least I did. Last night. In a dream.**

Phase Three: Pursuit

Despite spending the night on a ZAFT ship, Mwu had a fairly relaxing sleep, only disturbed by Athrun coming in about an hour after him. The poor kid looked even more weary than usual, which said a lot given how aggrieved he typically was over the Princess. And since he hadn't heard any funny noises, he figured all they really had done was talk.

Fortunately, the previous day's tour had included the pilot briefing room, where he found about thirty or so pilots in various states of consciousness; ranging from alert, to zombie-eyed, to drooling on neighbors. The Dreka kid was manning the projector with a self-satisfied grin that was generously described as manic. Next to him, an older Coordinator appeared to be sleep-walking, with the vaguest gestures indicating that he was awake, if only just. At last, the commander appeared to be done and he strode to the front with a device for indicating images on a projection. He also held a metal can with an odd conical attachment whose purpose Mwu figured out almost too late.

"TOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" the air horn blared.

The effect was instantaneous. Those pilots that were already awake flinched and rubbed their ears. The drowsing pilots were jolted into full consciousness and the majority scooted back away from their commander. Those that had been fully asleep had a variety of reactions. A pair of orange-haired twins clunked heads as they were roused and seemed torn from attacking the man who had woke them and tackling each other. A nervous-looking man ended up throwing a knife at the ceiling. And the kid who had yelled at Cagalli yesterday dove out of his chair in fright, but ended up smushing his face into a young woman's chest. The green-uniformed girl drove her fist into his face and he tumbled to the floor with a black eye.

"Now that everyone has rejoined the land of the living we can get down to the business of making sure everyone knows how best to survive the battle and their roles, and Aurora… Please don't leave any permanent damage we'll probably need Shinn alive and functioning."

The red-head looked ready to continue her onslaught, but acquiesced to her commander's request, putting several seats between the two of them and sitting down next to another woman, this one in the red coat of an elite pilot and with magenta hair.

"Anyways," the young man continued as though a similar event happened every day. "As the vice-captain announced last night, we'll be joining forces with Vice Admiral Haddock's forces and conducting a joint operation. Our objective is to recover or, failing that, destroy the captured Gundam units. This is our target."

He flicked the screen on and revealed a sight that was unnervingly familiar to Mwu.

"Artemis," he announced firmly. "Formerly, the main orbital installation of the Eurasian Confederacy. However, it was abandoned in the aftermath of the Le Creuset Team's assault on it. Intelligence has reported no activity since then, save for the occasional salvage team. The main issue that always plagued it was its isolated nature, making it unlikely to be the main base or similar installation for our friends. However, we can't discount the idea that they may have reinforcements, which is why Haddock's group is here. Scanners from an advanced team have indicated radiation trails leading into the main hanger, so that's likely where _Bogey One_ is."

"So what exactly are we going to be doing?" a green-suited pilot asked.

"We'll be securing the main hanger and the secondary hanger that is connected to it," Alfrid replied. "It could be that the Gundams have been moved deeper into the facility to try to draw us in to an ambush, so the _Minerva_ and several other ships will be deploying marine contingents in shuttles to search the facility. Our role is to keep the door open for them and to blast anyone who tries to get out."

The majority of reactions to that bit of news consisted of sighs and grumbles that sounded vaguely like "babysitting." Mwu felt a little better already. Escort missions were some of the best embodiments of war. Long periods of constant vigilance and moments of sheer terror followed immediately by trying to shake off the aftereffects of the action.

"Anyways," the temporary mobile suit commander brought his pilots attention back to the screen. "We're going to take a peek at what our friends are using as they seem to have some new toys. Then we'll look at our Gundams and make sure you guys know every trick they can pull before we have to try and bring them home."

He shifted the image on the screen to what looked like combat footage of the new ship.

"This image was salvaged from a destroyed ZAKU and sent to us because it is the clearest image we have of the ship that the captain has designated _Bogey One_. If anyone thinks it looks like the _Archangel_ from the last war, you aren't alone. Like the _Archangel_ , it is a double-hulled vessel, though the 'legs' are much closer together. Its main armament is composed of six Gottfried turrets arrayed at the front of the ship, with two dorsal, one on each outer side of the hulls, and two ventral. Valiant cannons on the sides to the rear provide additional firepower. We're not completely clear on its mobile suit capacity, but an analysis of the battle gives a figure of about fifty. There's also this…"

The image changed to one showing the ship from below, including a peculiar box-shape.

"Currently, it's unknown whether this is a standard feature or a modification, but what is known is that this secondary hanger contained around twenty of these ugly bastards."

Another image showed one of the purple mobile armors, just as it was detaching its pods.

"For now, we're calling it the Moebius Zero-Two, if anyone has a better name, please share it. Like the Moebius Zero, it has detachable gunbarrel weapon pods, meaning it can attack from multiple angles simultaneously. However, it likely requires a high-level of special awareness, which is was what restricted the original Moebius Zero to only a limited number, including the gentleman that Orb's Lioness has been generous enough to loan to us. Captain La Flaga, considering you piloted a Moebius Zero during the last war and nailed one of these buggers at Armory One, do you have any insight?"

Mwu shifted himself upright and saw that the majority of the room was paying close attention. Realizing that the next few moments could mean life or death out on the battlefield, he adopted as serious an attitude as he could. "The first rule of engaging anything with gunbarrel pods is to never do it alone. Doing so allows the pilot to focus exclusively on you and they can pin you down from all directions until you make a mistake. From what I saw, they aren't wire-guided like the old Moebius Zero's gunbarrels were so no chance of them accidently getting entangled or severing the chords to eliminate them. The good news is that they'll probably need to recharge and return to the main fighter every so often. And that is when they'll be at their most vulnerable, when they slow to allow the pods to dock and force them to present the largest target. That'll be your best shot to take them out."

"Thank you Captain." Alfrid nodded from up front, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Alright, did everyone hear and acknowledge that. Work together and blast them whenever the gunbarrels run out of juice. Since we'll be spending most of the operation inside the asteroid base, I don't expect we'll see a lot of them, but I'm not losing a pilot to unlikely circumstance if I can help it. During the battle these will be your targets…"

A host of images detailing the six Gundams that had been stolen from Armory One.

"As you all know, these six Gundam-grade mobile suits were stolen by the group we are now pursuing. I've gotten my hands on every bit of info available that isn't classified above my level. And for the next few minutes, we're going to go over each suit in detail so that no one is surprised by the tricks these things pull out there. First off…"

A series of images detailing the green mobile suit appeared on the screen, Mwu was surprised to see that it had a mobile armor form that bore a vague similarity to the Raider from the last war.

"ZGMF-X24S Chaos. The first of three mobile suits that were designed to serve as forerunners to our next generation of mass-produced mobile suit. Apparently, its ability to utilize a mobile armor form was inspired by Orb's Murasame, though Chaos is more optimized for space combat. It has a lot of standard features, beam sabers, beam rifle, shield, you get the idea. It does however have a few nasty surprises."

He zoomed in to images detailing one of the pod-like engines, the mobile armor mode's back, and the lower legs.

"The Gundam utilizes a limited version of the gunbarrel system, with only two pods, and a new targeting software enabling someone without specialized spatial awareness to use it effectively. The pods, when attached to the Gundam, also offer it enhanced speed. Each one is armed with a powerful beam cannon and a multitude of missiles, so keep your heads on a swivel when fighting it. When in it mobile armor mode, the Chaos gains access to a multi-phase plasma cannon capable of destroying a _Nazca_ -class with a well-aimed hit. Fortunately, it is fixed and therefore unsuited for mobile weapon combat so you probably won't have to worry about too much, just be aware. The final unique feature is the claws installed in the legs. They generate a beam saber field both on the claw itself and between the tips. While mainly a feature of the mobile armor, it can still be utilized for short lengths of time as a mobile suit so don't get cocky."

"Damn this thing sounds like a one-man wrecking machine," one of the two carrot-topped men commented to the other, virtually identical man sitting next to him. _'His twin,'_ Mwu assumed, remembering how they were introduced with the same last name during the dinner two nights ago.

The second twin turned to his brother, rolling his eyes slightly. "That kind of applies to all Gundams genius." He then turned back to the front. "I'm guessing fighting this guy single-handedly would be a bad idea?"

"Yes," Alfrid responded flatly before continuing, "and as Dale said, that goes for all the Gundams. Unless you're at the Commander's level and have just been hiding your skill for the sake of our self-esteems, you shouldn't even think of fighting any of these machines by yourself. That goes double for you Shinn."

"Huh?" the red-eyed pilot wondered with equal parts frustration and genuine curiosity. "I've got the Impulse and I handled them well enough yesterday. Just because you guys are-"

"It's because you're piloting the Impulse that you need to be careful," the young man interrupted. "We're going after six Gundams and we're doing it with only yours and the Strike, which is only being loaned to us. If they managed to destroy, disable, or, gods forbid, capture you, then we are going to be in a whole lot of trouble and I'm going to have to explain how I lost this ship's only remaining Gundam unit. I'll reiterate, don't fight these guys alone. I tried doing that with the Gaia and pretty much just pissed its pilot off. Speaking of which…"

He clicked the remote and the images shifted to show the black mobile suit in both its upright and four-legged positions. "ZGMF-X88S Gaia. It's no coincidence that it looks like a Gundam-version of a BuCUE since it's supposed to be a prototype for a mobile suit line capable of acting as such and replacing those old hounds."

"I thought that's what the Kerebos was for. And whatever happened to the LaGOWE?" a dark-skinned Red Coat pilot spoke up.

"Should've asked all questions to be held till the end," Alfrid grumbled. "Well, I hear that the Kerebos is a bit like the DOM, too much effort to spend on a mass-production model. And since a LaGOWE got totaled by the Strike, it was never deemed fit to make a whole lot of them. And the need for separate pilot and gunner positions meant that there needed to be very effective cooperation between the two. But back to the Gaia; it's only got one real special feature, beam sabers mounted in the wing-like structures in has in mobile armor mode. And it as a few little things to maximize its movement and flexibility as a mobile armor, even a zero-g environment. Overall though, no nasty surprises that can catch you off guard, just don't get in a turning fight with it."

"Our next customer don't have much in the way of surprises either, but as my dad said about the Red Army of the twentieth century A.D. Soviet Union, 'quantity can be its own quality', and in this case, there is a lot of quantity in firepower. Introducing the ZGMF-X31S Abyss." He changed the screen again to reveal a mobile suit in multiple shades of blue as both a normal mobile suit and as a mobile armor that bore a close resemblance to a submarine. "Abyss is an amphibious, artillery mobile suit and carries enough firepower to obliterate pretty much any ship, even the _Minerva_ if it caught us off-guard."

The images changed to focus in on the various weapon systems, and Mwu had a hard time keeping his jaw from dropping. In a comparison of firepower, he'd say it was to a normal suit what the Archangel was to a _Nelson_ -class.

"This mobile suit has numerous weapon systems that can allow it to essentially lay waste to anything in the vicinity. Its primary weapons are high-powered cannons. One mounted in the chest is a multi-phase plasma, easily able to one-shot a variety of vessels. The four beam cannons are able to rotate and provide near three-hundred-and-sixty degree coverage. The latter can therefore be used even in its aquatic mobile armor form if cruising near the surface. For projectiles, it has paired shell-firing cannons and torpedo tubes mounted on opposite sides of the streamlined shoulder binders that form the suit's outer shell as a mobile armor. The inner side of each binder also mounts a row of three more beam cannons, while the outer shells can be used as shields thanks to an anti-beam coating."

Pretty much every pilot in the room looked slightly freaked at the idea of fighting the heavily-armed and well-defended machine. Even Mwu wiped away a thread of sweat unconsciously.

"Your best bet when engaging it is to close as fast as possible. The only melee weapon the Abyss possesses is a 'beam lance' polearm. It lost the majority of the shaft at Armory One, but it may have been repaired. I'll warn you though, the beam edging doesn't need to be active to cut through armor, and that includes your shields, so be careful."

"Ha, ha, ha, 'be careful' he says," one pilot chuckled nervously in the front. "How are we supposed to be careful around a suit that could slag an entire team?"

Alfrid rubbed the back of his head with a nervous bashful air. "Well, I was mainly hoping that the Impulse would be able to take it down. It's got the speed and melee potential to catch it off guard and destroy or disable the Abyss, hopefully before it brings all that firepower to bear."

Shinn nodded. "No problem. I took all three of them on last time and nearly won."

Alfrid adopted a rather flat expression. "Rey please try to keep him alive."

Shinn scowled at that and half-rose but was pulled down by the blonde guy who had been giving him, the Princess, and Athrun death glares the entirety of yesterday.

"Sir, I have full faith in Shinn and his ability to defeat the Abyss."

"That's great Rey," Alfrid said rolling his eyes. "With that vote of confidence, let's look at the next couple impending disasters. ZAFT has recently commissioned five Gundams that are updated versions of the G-series weapons from the last war that were built at Heleopolis. All were targeted, but by a miracle of the gods, the commander, Lieutenant Joule, and Dearka received permission to take their three out for field testing while on their last deployment before we officially join the fleet. Unfortunately, that meant two were captured: Diamond Strike and Onyx Blitz."

The first mobile suit that appeared on the screen the main suit was superficially resembling the original Strike, save for a much darker color scheme, but with rather prominent additions in the form of a multi-system Striker pack. It also displayed a mobile armor form, reminiscent of the A.D. Stealth Bomber, that he supposed it was able to turn into.

"First, off, she's essentially meant to be used as a multi-role attack suit, meaning she can fight at any range with a variety of weapons. At close range, she can either use her double-bladed beam sword, a beam saber, or her "Shorty" beam rifles. At mid-range she has waist-mounted plasma cannons with a rapid-fire setting and she also has shoulder-mounted short-barreled railguns for distant bombardment of large targets."

"Sounds a lot like the Ootori pack," Mwu spoke up, referring to the powerful weapons pack that was equipped to the Strike, the Strike Rouge and the Astrays of elite pilots. "Except with more weapons."

"Can't confirm or deny the influence of the Ootori. And she has even more than that. She also has two additional weapon systems. The shield has a gatling laser which can retract into the shield to allow for the deployment of a beam saber. And the wings are also storage for paired beam swords and beam rifles. Please keep in mind that the majority of these weapons can be utilized in its mobile armor form. She's a tough nut to crack, but the tests showed she had a large learning curve so we're not going to just get mowed down by it. And she can still only use so many weapons at once. Since, unlike the Abyss, most of her weapons require the mobile suit to have free limbs."

The screen changed again and focused on what had to be the remodeled Blitz.

"The other remodel that was stolen was the Onyx Blitz. Like the original Blitz, it is meant for infiltration, but is comparatively light on weapons. However, it uses chameleonized phase shift rather than mirage colloid. With the constant need for adjustments, there is a prominent blur effect when in motion. As for its weapons," he clicked the screen's remote again and focused on the shields and the back attachment. "The weapons pack is a launchable claw appendage with a laser, meaning it can act as a gunbarrel pod. The primary focus of the suit though is on the 'Trikeros II' shields; these have the projectile lancer dart missiles and beam rifles integrated into them for ranged combat. The shields' rims can produce a beam saber-like field that can slice through mobile suits."

"And now we come to ZAFT's greatest fucking up since GENESIS," Alfrid announced with a notable scowl. He pulled up several images of a machine that seemed very similar to a bulked-up Strike with various embellishments. "While the rest of the information during this briefing is cleared for conversation, what I'm telling you guys on this thing is still technically classified at a level none of you apply for. But the captain gave her approval and since they already have it, no real point in trying to keep it a secret. Meet the ZGMF-X42S Legend; a.k.a. the mobile suit most likely to kill us all."

The images shifted once again to reveal the mobile suit that reminded him of the Perfect Strike module they had cobbled together from the Sword, Aile, and Launcher systems in the days leading up to the Atlantic attack on Orb.

"For those of you who paid attention in class, you should have an idea of its weapon systems given that they are similar to the three main Striker packs. It does have a few integrated ideas of its own though. First off are the 'Palma Fiocina' beam cannons mounted in the hands. These are basically meant to be utilized in conjunction with whatever weapons the Legend is holding and can be used as an emergency system if all other weapons are destroyed. Defensively, it has 'Solidus Fulgor' energy shield mountings that can block most weapons. They even tested a low-powered positron cannon against them, and that was about the only thing that broke through. What is really going to give us trouble though is the unique system that generates 'Voiture Lumiere' and Mirage Colloid. Unlike the planetary travel 'Voiture Lumiere' sail, this system only generates a field a fraction of that size which is not used for propulsion. Instead, when combined with Mirage Colloid particles, it creates afterimages of the Legend that can be used to deceive and disorient opponents. Fortunately, the prototype it uses exerts too much of a strain on the reactor to be used in anything other than short bursts."

He played a clip of the Legend demonstrating the dual-action system and, even in the video, Mwu had a small difficulty keeping an eye on the real one. In combat, he imagined it would be much worse.

"And that's everything," the young man turned to them with a grim expression. "We're going in with minimal information. We don't know who these guys are, we don't know what kind of tricks they could pull. And we only have a guess as to where they are. Admiral Haddock's people are good. He was my father's CO and he was an excellent officer. They'll be providing support with us leading the search into Artemis. Good luck to all of you. Also, if anyone has a chicken, I'd really appreciate being able to use it as a sacrifice."

On that odd statement, he marched to the back of the room and refilled the cup of coffee that he had drained. Chugging it down, he practically skipped out of the room.

Mwu felt mildly stunned at the relatively unmilitary manner the mobile suit commander had displayed. "That was quite possibly the oddest way of ending a briefing that I've ever heard."

A magenta-haired red-coat just shrugged her shoulders, "that's Alfrid for you. He's as blunt as they come. Good guy though. Of course, being his friend might make me a little biased."

The pilots began trumping out of the room, some likely heading for the ready room or the hanger to prep for the attack, other heading to the mess hall to grab some early morning grub. Mwu decided to head back to check on Cagalli and Athrun before heading down to the hanger to look at the Strike. He had a feeling that he would need it in perfect working order.

* * *

A slightly battered Shinn made his way from the mess hall to the pilot's room, psyching himself up internally for the looming fight. While he wasn't completely well-rested, he hadn't gotten such a sleep in over four years so it didn't matter that much. Shaking off the grim memory, his mind turned to the extra pilot in the briefing room.

Mwu La Flaga was a name that few coordinators didn't know. His exploits at Endymion had initially been thought to be propaganda. But, when it was discovered that he was the sole remaining pilot capable of utilizing the Moebius Zero, his fame had grown considerably as he bested numerous ZAFT aces. His presence on the Archangel had been a major factor in the ship's survival and his skill in the Strike had revealed him to be every bit as skilled and deadly in a mobile suit as he was in a mobile armor. He was a man that was often as admired in ZAFT as he was reviled.

Despite the man serving Athha, Shinn was ready to overlook that since he was going to be helping them recover the stolen models. It helped that he was a fellow pilot whose machine's existence had likely been a contributing factor in the building of the Impulse.

And there the man was, staring intently out the window of the ready room into the hanger, his gaze obviously fixed on his mobile suit. Several of the _Minerva's_ pilots held similar postures, while others made small talk, trying to calm their nerves as the ship continued at full speed towards their objective.

The door popped open and revealed a petite redhead who darted in and made for Aurora and Luna. The three girls held a hushed discussion before the newcomer hugged them tight. She then turned towards him.

Shinn was more than glad to be dating Meyrin Hawke. While her sister could be a bit nasty on occasions and her cousin was far too fond of physical violence, Meyrin was bubbly and cheerful most of the time and her perky attitude always made him smile a little.

"Hey Shinn," she darted up to him, cheeks as red as his probably were. "The captain let me come down here to say good-bye and good luck real quick. So… Um.. Good-bye. And good luck." He stood on tiptoe and pecked him on the corner of his mouth.

A rather giddy grin spread across his face as she ran back out the door and he was strangely immune to the wolf-whistles from the twins. It wasn't the first time she had kissed him, not even the first time like that or in front of his fellow pilots, but it definitely made him feel a little carried away. A rare but still familiar laugh brought him back to the present.

Rey was leaning against a corner and smirked at him before shifting his stare away and directing it intently at La Flaga's back. While Shinn was used to his friend's somewhat unnerving gaze, he seemed unusually focused and tense, though he relaxed slightly when Shinn walked up to him.

"Meyrin seems to make you happy."

"Yeah, she's great. Can't say much about her sister and cousin, but…" he paused finishing with a shrug. You wondering how he's going to fit in?" he asked, pointing his thumb at their temporary addition.

"Yes," Rey responded.

Shinn waited for him to elaborate, as he usually did, but nothing was forthcoming.

Shinn was just about to ask if he thought his fellow blonde would be any help when alarms began ringing through the ship, followed by Meyrin's voice calmly announcing a combat status change.

"Going to Condition Red. Going to Condition Red. All crew man your battle stations. All pilots board your machines and stand by. Be careful Shinn."

Before anyone could take the mickey out of him for that, Shinn felt his first ever rush of gratitude towards his commanding officer. "Alright, let's go," Alfrid ordered. "But no extra equipment, we'll likely be in close quarters and there's too much risk to bring the heavy stuff. Also, check your fire, I have no desire the be writing letters home explaining that someone's kid bit it because one of you guys or girls got trigger-happy."

With groans, mild protests, and a chorus of grim laughter, there was an organized rush to board the three elevators leading down to the hanger floor. Shinn managed to find himself in one with Rey, Samuel, Chris, Elard, one of the regular pilots whose name escaped him, Sherman Grant and Lee Johnston; the perpetual losers of card night; Joe Churchill, and La Flaga.

"Everyone here ready?" the mobile suit pilot/bodyguard asked them.

Nods of affirmation were his answer.

"It'll be good to pay them back for Jack's death, those bastards cost me eighty bucks," Joe said eagerly.

"Well, I owed him twenty and Sherry owes him sixty so you can collect from us if we make it out of this," Lee cracked, earning him a stink-eye from his fellow debtor (and usual partner in the paired games).

"It's going to be nice to finally do some damn fighting," Elard spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. He wasn't exactly known for speaking or smiling, but now he was doing both; though the latter was mildly unnerving even to him. It might have also had to do with how he was rubbing a hand over the hilt of one of his combat knives.

Shinn knew his story almost as well as his own. Mother died at Junius Seven. Sister dead piloting a CGUE at Panama. Father died avenging his daughter at Jachin Due, mutually killing the Sword Dagger pilot who claimed to have done the deed. And both of them held a deep hatred for the Alliance, though his own was also directed towards Athha and Orb.

"Just don't get carried away," the veteran pilot warned unexpectedly scrutinizing them all. "I knew a guy during the last war who was determined to fight to defend others, but the strain nearly killed him. Took a while and the efforts of his friends to pull him back together after the war."

"Maybe he was weak," Elard sneered.

The blonde man turned towards him with a scowl. "He was far from weak and was probably one of the greatest pilots I ever knew. He just didn't like fighting even though he was good at."

Elard let out a huff as the elevator doors opened. Their fellow pilots were already streaming from the elevators, Alfrid rattling off orders as they quickly boarded their machines. He'd never like the other war orphan, but he could at least admit he was good at getting things organized. Probably why Commander Joule had made him Quartermaster.

Running over towards the lift in the center of the hanger, he boarded the small elevator and made his way up to the Core Splendor. Below and around him, engines roared to life as the mobile suits powered on. A second later, the familiar _snap-hiss_ meant he had reached the cockpit module of the Impulse. Quick as a whip, he charged across the pad and practically leapt into his cockpit. Before the canopy had even closed, the various buttons and displays were lighting up, and the even drone assured him that the power system was ready.

The platform then rose even higher than it was already positioned until he was brought to rest along the central catapult. The doors several hundred feet away slid open and he caught a glimpse of the Artemis base in the distance.

"Course clear. Core Splendor, launch," Meyrin's voice ordered over the comm system, wavering just a little.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor. Launching," Shinn confirmed as the jet-like mobile armor sped down the launch catapult and in to space. Behind him, the three other components of the Impulse followed; the Chest and Leg Flyers and the Force Silhouette. All three soon linked up around him and the completed Impulse blasted forward. The _Minerva_ continued to launch the rest of its complement, until all thirty-three suits had assumed a loose formation. The Impulse itself, seven ZAKU Phantoms (some with more specialized modifications then others), Sam's GuAIZ Perfect, twenty-three ZAKU Warriors, and now the Strike. Together with _Minerva_ they represented what was probably the most powerful single military units since the Battle of Jachin Due. And there was more besides.

Arrayed to the Minerva's port were the seven _Nazca_ -class and one _very_ heavily-modified _Laurasia_ -class. While the _Nazcas_ were painted the usual turquoise blue, the _Aesir_ was painted a golden yellow. Owing to Admiral Haddock's well-known Junk Guild contacts, the ship had a better armament than most of its type and was said to be a match for one of Orb's few, but powerful, _Izumo_ -class, though not quite on the level of an _Archangel_ or the _Minerva_. And in front of the eight ships was a cloud of mobile suits, a prototype GOUF leading it. And behind it came both types of ZAKU, GuAIZ Rs, GINNs HMIIs, and even a CGUE DEEP Arms.

"All _Minerva_ mobile suits listen up," Alfrid spoke up over the comm line. "Admiral Haddock just contacted me; we'll be occupying the hangers and nearby corridors large enough for us. We've got the most modern suits and our training covered this. Try to take the captured Gundams as intact as possible. And for Odin's sake, if you hit the Legend's power plant, let the rest of us know so we can get some distance between us and the fucking mushroom cloud. We'll be going in by two hangers; Shinn you're with my group, Mr. La Flaga, please go with the other."

Slowly their formation drifted forward, splitting into the designated groups to board the asteroid fortress. Shinn landed in his group's hanger first, followed almost immediately by Alfrid.

"Magnetize feet," Alfrid commanded.

A series of subtle _thumps_ and _bangs_ rang throughout the hanger as the mobile suits attached themselves to the metal floor. Internally, each mobile suit's o.s. would be making constant adjustments to the magnetic forces in the space of milliseconds so that they would maintain full range of movement.

"Alright, fan out and blow those doors."

Their half of the mobile suit wing proceeded to do just that, blasting the designated entrances that appeared on their HUDs. With their sensor packages dialed up to their most sensitive setting, they swept every nook and cranny of their LZ, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. At last, Alfrid was satisfied and contacted the _Minerva_.

"Alright _Minerva_ , Hanger One is secure, feel free to start dispatching shuttles."

Within minutes, the small ships were settling into place beside the mobile suits and dozens of marines in full gear were tromping down the ramps. The officers gathered into a separate group with Alfrid descending from his mobile suit to join in. Shinn idly checked his scanner readouts, finding nothing out of the ordinary. He let out a sigh, allowing boredom to begin sinking in and recalling the (thankfully very few) simulations that had portrayed similar situations. He readied himself for several dull hours and remembered what one of their commando instructors had said always said about success on a mission.

 _'_ _The sign of a perfect mission is that it's boring. When it's not boring, you know that you've failed. No matter how bad things get, don't be tempted to relieve boredom.'_

Like most things that they had been told, it made a certain amount of sense, but that still didn't stop the pilots from grumbling. Sure they all knew that some tasks would necessitate a higher tolerance against dull conditions than others, but that still didn't stop them from wishing they were outside with the majority of the mobile suits. At least then they'd be flying around (and more than likely practicing a few maneuvers) and not just standing around.

He didn't even realize Alfrid had returned to his mobile suit and rejoined them until his voice came over the comm systems.

"Alright everyone, you know what's up. They're heading in now," a dull thump emphasized those words, "and Commander Milgram says they'll keep in contact with us. Only left for us to do is sit tight. We'll at least be patched into their communication broadcasts to act as relays. Me, I'm hoping for a relaxing time, but I'd better not catch anyone sleeping."

The next couple hours passed with only a fair amount of background noise as the commandos conducted their searches. Alfrid occasionally hailed someone to make sure they were paying attention, but that was the only thing that there really was to occupy them. It began to get so bad that Shinn was wishing for something, anything really to happen, even if it was just a crate falling over. And that was exactly what happened.

The loud bang caused several of the suits to jerk around and begin scanning all over while the twins reduced the metal container to free-floating atoms.

"Cease fire," Alfrid roared. Immediately, everyone froze, the twins' ZAKUs took on an almost human stance of embarrassment and contriteness. Alfrid didn't lecture either of them though, instead snarling out what they were probably all thinking.

"I don't understand it. How can we not have encountered them by now?"

And that was when a new, undamaged, set of bay doors slammed shut behind them, rocking the hanger with the force of their collision.

"TRAP!" half-a-dozen voices screamed out, immediately opening fire on the barrier blocking their escape. And that's when a loud rumble seemed to shake the entire asteroid.

"Damnit," Alfrid swore. " _Minerva._ _Minerva_ , come in. _Aesir_ , _Galileo_ , respond."

All he received in response was static.

"Fuck this; Shinn, I need you to open a comm line to the other hanger."

"On it," Shinn replied, his fingers already blurring across the keyboard. "Alright it's good."

"Captain La Flaga come in. What is your status?"

A burst of static nearly blew Shinn's eardrums and he quickly typed out command lines to minimize and clarify the interference. But they weren't left with much.

"Hanger… moving… fire."

But that confusing series of words was punctuated by the unmistakable rumble of a mobile suit exploding.

"INCOMING HOSTILES!" Alfrid bellowed. "We're about to get hit, scanners to maximum."

With that, he fired a series of blasts at a section of wall causing it to fold down and reveal several mobile suits coming down a tunnel. They were immediately forced to duck to the sides to avoid being melted by a literal wave of beam fire. A series of smaller explosions saw several more panels be blow off the walls and disgorge a wave of mobile suits. Close-quarters combat was immediately joined.

Shinn activated his beam saber and charged into the melee, noting there opponents were Slaughter Daggers, meaning it was much more likely that their enemy was Earth Alliance, or at least Natural-affiliated. Though it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that a rogue Coordinator faction had elected to use the rather common machine to create a false impression. But it soon became apparent that the pilots at least were probably Naturals. Then again his Gundam's more powerful systems gave him a decisive advantage at this range against pretty much any opponent except another Gundam. He effortlessly avoided blows and sent other mobile suits crashing to the floor through sheer power. But the suddenness of the attack had caught many off-guard and Shinn was forced to spend more time helping his fellows than finishing downed opponents.

Despite the overwhelming nature of the assault, the ZAFT pilots were able to gain the upper hand and began scrapping their foes, allowing some of them to begin planting grenades on the massive obstruction preventing them. A massive _whoomp_ gave a good indication of the success as the door crumpled. Several concentrated beam blasts blew it away entirely.

"Captain Milgrim, what is your status?"

"We've been ambushed and are cut off from you. We've linked up with the other team and are heading out that way. You're clear to bail from guard duty because I get the feeling there was some important about that big boom right after we were surprised.

"Roger. Alright kiddies, no more babysitting we're heading back out."

A chorus of whoops and minor cheers greeted that news as Alfrid lead them back into space. A space that was alive with a raging conflict.

"Form up and take 'em down," Alfrid ordered as the mass of mobile suits split into pairs and trios and plunged into the whirling dogfights.

* * *

Meyrin was fidgeting in her seat again. While somewhat unprofessional, Talia Gladys was going to overlook it. Everyone was pretty jittery and the presence of both their own head of state and that of Orb's Chief Representative was not helping matters. The only thing they could do was sit and wait as their assault teams made their way into the base. And as each hour passed, their nerves only grew more stretched.

The hiss of the lift let her know that Arthur had returned. He had gone on a patrol around the ship to ensure all stations were ready for combat, even though they didn't even have a single indication that the enemy was here outside of fading radiation trails. A calm nudge from her second-in-command also proceeded a cup of coffee being placed at her station. That was one of the reasons she appreciated having the capable man as her subordinate. He was always going out of his way to ensure the comforts of others and rarely needed to raise his voice.

Arthur went about distributing drinks to both their guests and the rest of the bridge crew as all continued their focused vigil. A vigil that was now extending into its fifth hour. The mobile suits, even running under stand-by conditions, would soon need to return to recharge, a process that fortunately would take only a couple minutes for the entire wing thanks to a suggestion from Lunamaria to convert all on-board mobile suits to being able to utilize the Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System, originally meant for the Gundams. While this would require the batteries to be replaced a bit more frequently, it offered an unparalleled ability to recharge their mobile suits.

"Ma'am, the _Aesir_ is sending a communications request." Abby reported from her station next to Meyrin.

"Accept it," she ordered. Richard Haddock had only contacted them upon their arrival and she would be glad for any ideas that the man could suggest to explain why there had been no contact with enemy. The viewing screen flared to life revealing a man with gray hair swiftly fading to white. He gave a grizzled smirk and acknowledged his fellow officer.

"Afternoon Captain Gladys. I'm assuming you're growing as concerned about this lack of activity as I am?"

"Indeed," she replied back. "It would seem that our enemy has evaded us. I believe that, given the stealth capability they displayed when encroaching upon Armoury One, it is almost certain that they have managed to sneak away."

The older coordinator stroked his course stubble. "Aye, it's a possibility, but not one I'd indulge. Some instinct of mine is telling me they're still here. They could be hoping for a demonstration of just how powerful those Gundams are in space combat. Or they could be angling to take out your ship."

"The _Minerva_ sir?" she questioned the admiral. Despite having three ships destroyed beneath his feet and collecting dozens of injuries that should have forced him into retirement, it was reputed that the admiral's mind was as sharp as ever. And considering the number of times he had predicted the exact nature of an upcoming engagement from merely perusing his opponent's dossier and then examining their fleet composition, that was an asset of incomparable value.

"Quite. We built the _Minerva_ to basically replicate what the _Archangel_ did during the previous war. No one knows where it's gotten too since Jachin Due," he reminded her, though not condescendingly. "Some say it's at Heleopolis II ready to emerge as the flag of Orb's orbital forces. Some say the Junk Guild scavenged her. And each rumor is as valid as the last. Save perhaps the one where Blue Cosmos grabbed her somehow. But the point is that the _Minerva_ was built with similar weapons capacity and even greater capability for operating as an independent unit."

"And we assumed that the Earth Alliance wasn't trying something similar," she remarked bitterly, recalling how their latest intelligence report had included a great deal of information on how they were focusing on a new series of mobile armors, but there had been no hint of a new class of warship.

"Yeah, unless this isn't the EA," he pointed out with a speculative expression. "Though realistically, they are the only ones with sufficient resources. The Zalaites have lost most of their influence and Blue Cosmos could be subverting funds from the Earth governments, though I'd like to think someone would've uncovered something like that."

Talia nodded, softly dribbling her fingers on her armrests.

"I agree with Admiral Haddock," Gilbert's voice announced. She turned her head in just the slightest to see him leading Representative Athha and one of her bodyguards onto the ship's bridge. Haddock's posture went from relaxed commander to discipline subordinate as he snapped to attention.

"Chairman," he saluted, only easing when he received a nod.

"More to the point, there are few other bodies with the capability or will to commit such acts. The Junk Guild is widespread and potentially does have the capability; however, I doubt any of their members would want a war, much less ne brought down on their heads. The Martian colonies are currently embroiled in internal difficulties. And…" Gilbert paused and seemed to contain a wince, though part of her, the part that had known him for so long, viewed it as some sort of subterfuge. A thought that was confirmed when Representative Athha nodded.

"Undoubtedly there are some elements of Orb that would want such as ship," she spoke, cautiously. "But they lack the resources to pull off such an escapade."

Her bodyguard seemed rather tense over the subject, likely thinking his charge was too free with speaking about the internal politics of Orb. Of course, given that his job was to protect her, he could have also just been agitated by the entire situation they had found themselves in.

"Well, there's not much to go but supposition at this point. Hopefully we'll take some prisoners and be…" he stopped mid-speech.

And it was then that Talia noticed light on the viewing screens that allowed the _Minerva_ visual awareness while the bridge was lowered. And then proximity alarms began blaring throughout the ship. And a familiar silhouette emerged from where part of Artemis's crust had blasted away.

"Captain," Arthur yelped, "it's _Bogey One_!"

"Yeah this is definitely a trap to catch the _Minerva_ ," Admiral concluded as the comm line cut out abruptly. He was likely communicating with his other ships. Which would need it against their foe.

"Meyrin, get in contact with our mobile suit contingent. We need them out here now!"

The rest of her crew had already begun typing in command sequences as the ship oriented itself from a watch status to full combat awareness. She turned her attention to the battle as the _Minerva_ came about.

The six beam turrets of their enemy fired off, each side directed at a different target. One _Nazca_ escaped unharmed, barring some minor scoring that blackened the aqua hull. But the second was not as lucky, with two beams lancing through its starboard prong and three more striking it dead-center. A wave of missiles streaked towards a third ZAFT warship and its position near another gave it the protection of two CIWS systems. Just when it seemed like the strike would be warded off, one slipped through and the resulting explosion covered the final descent of several more. The ship emerged from the debris cloud relatively intact, but it began withdrawing. In the opening moments of battle, they had effectively lost two ships.

Fortunately, the mobile suits of both were still ready for action and eager to avenge their shipmates as they lead the charge of mobile suits towards those that were accompanying _Bogey One_. Soon they were mixing it up and the superior quality of the ZAFT mobile suits slowly began to tell. And then all six beam turrets fired at the _Aesir_. Even as horror grew in her mind, all twelve streaks of green light fizzled out and she breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that the _Aesir's_ modifications lived up to her rumored potential.

"Arthur, do we have a firing solution?"

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, focused on his instruments as he coordinated the _Minerva_ 's various systems.

A dozen scenarios flashed through her mind as she resolved the battle in her mind.

"Disabling strikes to their engines," she ordered. "No more than thirty percent power. Our main objective is to reacquire our stolen mobile suits and taking that ship would be key to figuring out who was responsible for this."

"Tristans One and Two target _Bogey One_ 's engines. Restrict power output to twenty-five percent," Arthur relayed.

Four beams dash across space. But one pair was halted only a few kilometers short by a flare of light violet light. The other appeared to merely be diffused by what she was prepared to wager her rank on being the same laminated armor that had protected the _Archangel_ -class and now her own command.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"Unknown ma'am," her second-in-command reported. "There was a flare of energy that seemed to block our attack, but there doesn't appear to be anything now."

"Make sure we have every available scanning system analyzed after this is over. Increase the next strikes power to forty percent. Meyrin, what's the status of the mobile suit engagement?"

"Enemy losses are at approximately thirty percent ma'am, our own have suffered about ten and-"

Suddenly a series of explosions suddenly ripped across the mobile suit engagement zone and several purple streaks closed in on a _Nazca_ and opened fire.

"Ma'am, the enemy mobile armor unit deployed at Armoury One has just entered the combat. Our losses have just doubled and the _Inca_ has just sustained heavy damage to its weapon systems."

"Meyrin, have you established contact with our mobile suits?"

"Yes ma'am, just now. They were ambushed and their comm systems were under jamming, but they are aware of the situation and Alfrid's portion should be engaging- NOW!"

With the Impulse in the lead, the fresh score of mobile suits roared into the fray.

* * *

Luna watched anxiously as the last infantryman scrambled aboard the shuttle.

The ambush had been a rather nasty surprise for both mobile suits and the ZAFT marines combing the supposedly abandoned base. And while they had easily defeated their attackers, with the Strike playing an integral part in the brief firefight, they had suffered losses. Amy Swiss had been caught out of position and triple-teamed by a coordinated strike of Daggers. She had taken one down and badly damaged a second before the third drove its beam saber into her cockpit. Sherman and Lee had lost their mobile suits but both escaped relatively intact.

 _'_ _A metaphor for their typical card performance,'_ she supposed to herself. Both were now safe on one of the shuttles they were to escort back to the ships.

"Alright, move out," Sam ordered as the shuttles fired their engines.

The convoy immediately swooped downwards, at least relative to the Earth's orbital plane given that there was no true direction in space. And that was when they caught sight of the battle raging amongst the ships. Concern for her sister overrode the procedures the academy had ingrained into her as she opened a link to the _Minerva_.

"Meyrin! What'sgoingon? Areyouokay? Where'stheotherteam? Haveyoubeenhit? Is it the Gun-"

"Luna I'm fine," she responded sounding far to calm to Luna for the current situation. "The rest of the _Minerva's_ mobile are engaging our attackers. We were ambushed though the Minerva hasn't been hit. Just try to keep it that way."

"And please Lieutenant Hawke, refrain from personal communications during a battle," a strict female voice said with a hint of irritation.

 _'_ _Damn,'_ she mentally swore. _'The captain.'_ "Sorry ma'am, it won't happen again." _'At least I hope not.'_

"See that it doesn't," was the curt response as the line went dead.

Mentally berating herself, Luna flew with the formation towards the raging battle. A group of Slaughter Daggers broke out and came zooming towards them. Her shots as the two groups of mobile suits closed managed to blast one apart and she grinned in triumph at her first kill. And then the battle was joined in earnest. The next few moments were a rush of adrenaline, confidence, and terror as they fought against the superior numbers of Slaughter Daggers, the sheer technological difference making up for the numbers disadvantage. It also seemed like their opponents were unusually cautious as she had yet to gain another kill despite damaging several. But she had gotten so used to their behavior that she didn't notice one diving on her from above, beam saber blazing.

"Luna, look up," a voice crackled over the radio. She almost froze as her new opponent came bearing down on her, but a series of, somewhat poorly aimed, shots slowed him. And she raised her own beam rifle and blew off its right arm. The mobile suit streaked away and was replaced by a black mobile suit that was almost invisible in the dark of space, only recognizable by the two beam sabers it had.

"Hey Luna, having a nice afternoon?" Alfrid asked with a shaky laugh as he took a wingman position.

"Better than I almost was. Thanks for the save," she answered. Both mobile suits began flying the standard evasion path, searching for new targets. "Still need to work on your aim a little?"

"One of my sensors was knocked askew," he protested, firing off another spread of beam rifle blasts and even scoring some minor damage. "And besides, these guys are pretty good. I've yet to pick up a kill."

"Well, I have one kill marker to place on my suit," she mentioned somewhat smugly.

"Good work," he complimented her. There was some force behind it, but it seemed more his frustration with his own inability.

Suddenly, they were separated by a powerful volley of green energy beams. She glanced up in time to see a diving purple dagger-like shape. It was one of those new mobile armors, and the thing was just as vicious as the others had said. Taking a breath, Luna poured energy into her thrusters as the attacker separated into its various components and began shooting at her from every angle. Desperately, she scanned for friendly mobile suits, remembering Captain La Flaga's advice in the briefing about engaging these things on their own. She increasingly realized why that was the case as the network of beams came closer and closer to turning her into dust.

And that was when a shot blew her left shield off and sent her into a short tumble. Just as she righted herself, two of the pods stopped their constant maneuvering and came into perfect alignment for killing shots. She raised her beam rifle and squeezed off three shots, the first two managed to deflect the weaker blasts aimed at her and the third drilled through both gunbarrels, exploding them. And then for a millisecond, she saw the larger form of the mobile armor's main body closing in, she blasted forward, squeezing off a shot guided more by instinct than design. Several hits slammed into her, though they didn't appear to have caused any major damage, though an alarm indicated her phase shift was gone. And then it was on her flank, but the under slung cannon was melted and useless. Both remaining gunbarrels reattached themselves and it seemed to almost acknowledge her as it flew away. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and made a beeline for the _Minerva_ , her phase shift was gone, she had suffered damage, and the mobile suits power levels were in the red. She took a passing shot at a Slaughter Dagger and continued on.

" _Minerva_ , this is Hawke, I've sustained damage and am coming in to land."

"Copy that," her sister's voice responded, a nervous hitch coloring it. "The recall order for our mobile suits was sent out. _Bogey One_ is rapidly departing the battlefield and we are setting out in pursuit. The majority of our shuttles will have to be taken aboard Admiral Haddock's ships."

Luna finished her landing preparations and came to a rest inside the starboard hanger. She took off her helmet and wiped away the layer of sweat that coated her brow. Fighting in space was even more chaotic than the simulations had made it out to be. Privately, she hoped that she wouldn't be doing much of it. She was pulled into the main hanger by the machinery and stayed inside refocusing herself as the rest of the mobile suits came in. While a number had their once-pristine conditions ruined, it seemed that each one was still combat capable.

 _'We were lucky,'_ she thought to herself as she recalled Amy's mobile suit being destroyed.

* * *

Alfrid walked into the _Minerva's_ command meeting, inclining his head towards the captain to apologize for his delay. The nurse who attended to him after the doctor patched him up had been a little heavy with the sedatives and he only woke up about an hour prior. And she had neglected to inform him about the meeting his presence had been requested for.

Vice-Captain Trine continued going over the ship's status report with input from the various staff officers. The _Minerva_ hadn't suffered any damage from the battle around Artemis, outside some scoring damage from strafing runs that hadn't even taken out any of the CIWS weapons. The minor structural damage from _Bogey One's_ little trap had been completely repaired.

He absentmindedly scratched at the bandage that covered the gash in his armor, as the various members of the _Minerva's_ command staff debated the battles results and discussed the next expected battle. His injury had been caused when a series of particle beams had hammered his mobile suit and caught him unawares and unbraced. His arm had caught on a corner of his console and had torn through fabric and flesh. Still he had managed to bring his beam saber into the perfect position to slice right through the enemy as he had closed in for the kill. It had been his third and final victory in the battle around Artemis.

After he and Luna had been separated by the attack of Moebius Zero-Two, he had been attacked by a foursome of Slaughter Daggers, all with their beam sabers drawn. And he proceeded to show them just why he was the top-ranked melee combatant in his class. The first had withdrawn when he skillfully parried a pair of strikes from it and then sliced the mobile suit's shield in half from the back. At the same time, he had caught blows from the other two with the beam saber in his offhand and on one of his shields. The next few minutes had been a blur of swordplay as he danced around his remaining opponents, seeking and pressing every hole in their defense. He had then gained his first kill as he disarmed and sliced apart one of the Slaughter Daggers after its fellows had been driven back by a combination of beam saber techniques and using the mobile suit itself as a weapon. The second kill had come as he had pretended to be damaged, luring one of the remaining attackers in and driving a beam saber right into its power core, triggering a chain reaction that consumed the mobile suit. The last Dagger had fired its thrusters at full power and rushed away from the dogfight. And that had been when the fifth Dagger had struck.

"ALFRID!" a voice cut into his ponderings and he shook himself back into the present, where everyone else was gazing at him in expectation, with one or two scowling at his inattention.

"Sorry captain," he apologized, a red blush creeping up his neck in shame. "My head still a little foggy from…"

He gestured with his injured arm and the gazes directed at him softened slightly. "Won't happen again. What were you asking?"

The captain let out a brief sigh at his question, "I was asking about the condition of your pilots."

"I didn't see most of them before I was put under," he began. "Though Sean and Dale came to visit me and it sounds like everyone is a little shaken, but they have their nerves intact. Amy did very little to make herself popular and my own injuries were the most severe and they won't preclude me from fighting."

"Very well. We should be making contact with _Bogey One_ in approximately three hours. The _Minerva_ is operating at approximately 98% combat efficiency, we are the most powerful ship in the fleet and our enemy was damaged by attacks on it as it withdrew from the combat around Artemis. It is likely that most of its mobile weapon contingent was part of the attacking force. The most dangerous opposition is expected to be the Gundams and all of them suffered minor damage during the incident at Armory One. This is probably our best chance at catching our enemies and retaking our Gundams. I want all stations to be ready for battle half an hour before contact. You're all dismissed."

* * *

The massive hulk loomed ahead of them. It spoke of tragedy. Of a war that had come and passed it by. Stripped of everything that could be salvaged, it now floated in the debris belt. To many, evoked a mournful air acknowledging the loss of life. Ian Lee was not most men.

Captain Lee did not much care. Like all who wore the black and grey uniform of Phantom Pain, he was beyond being emotionally stirred by such things. Not much remained of the hopeful, idealistic young man who had joined the Atlantic Federation space forces decades earlier. That part had been wrung dry long ago.

How much had changed since then? From the time when Earth was at peace and the Earth Alliance was meant to defend the entirety of the Earth Sphere, and even extend aid to their brethren on Mars.

And then the tension between Naturals and Coordinators had arose. Lee had even felt some compassion towards those oppressed because of their parents desire to make them "perfect". But whatever he might have felt for the Coordinators had died long ago. Even the bright, burning hate had fizzled out after some nameless battle where his ship had been the only one from either side still active in the desolation. All that remained was Phantom Pain. An appropriate name.

He glanced sideways at the younger man seated in the chair next to his. Neo Roanoke sat straight, his blond hair cascading from underneath the helmet that concealed the upper half of his head, his face expressionless.

He knew who that man was. For that matter, he knew _what_ that man was. He was one of very few people privy to that information. What was more, he had a pretty good idea of what that man intended to do.

It did not matter.

"Distance to asteroid?" he asked aloud.

"Distance fourteen hundred and closing!" replied the helmsman.

"Combat Ops, order all mobile suits to launch. Helm, lay in a course below the asteroid. Prepare to put Colonel Roanoke's plan into effect."

"Deck reports starboard catapult online! Port catapult online! Systems show green…launching!" Through the bridge's forward viewport, Lee could see the tiny shapes of their new weapons foat away into the debris as they sowed the seeds for the destruction of their pursuer.

"Mobile suits away! Datalinks are green! Closing hangar doors!"

"I just hope your pilots are up to it," Lee said in a low voice that only Neo was close enough to hear.

"Wasn't their performance yesterday ago proof enough?" Neo sounded almost disappointed.

"There's a lot riding on them doing their jobs right," Lee retorted, in no mood to be palmed off. "I've seen too many Extendeds screw up to have any confidence in them."

"None of them fifth-generation Extended," Neo reminded him, not rising to the bait. "You have to admit, those out there are far superior performers. And if anything goes wrong, I'll go out there myself. Happy now?"

"Very well." Lee decided he was getting nowhere. Neo's skill was not to be sneezed at, but he didn't feel any better for it. If only because even he doubted that the Gundams would be capable of tying down all of the ZAFT mobile suits.

Lee knew, both from his training and from experience, what happened when an unsupported warship faced a warship with mobile suits in support. If those Extended screwed up and got themselves killed, or allowed themselves to be lured away, the _Girty Lue_ would be at an extreme disadvantage. Especially since they had been forced to leave much of their mobile weapon contingent at Artemis. Though fortunately, not the pilots of the mobile armors, who had been substituted for volunteers. Machines could be replaced easily, but not so the skilled pilots with unique natural abilities.

"Passing Contact H!" called the helmsman. "Entering range for anchor target!"

"Cast anchor as you bear!" Neo called. It was _his_ plan after all. "Launch the decoy after firing." He smirked. "Get the timing right on this."

"T-minus eight seconds!" counted the helmsman. "T-minus seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… firing!"

Lee could see the anchor fly, the tiny light of its rocket engine racing away towards the vast bulk of the colony wall, looming menacingly in the forward viewport.

"Anchor has impacted! Anchor is holding!"

It was like something out of a very old movie, or an acrobatics act. Having cut engines several minutes earlier, the _Girty Lue_ had drifted towards the asteroid on momentum, aiming itself with vernier thrusters. Neo's idea was to use the anchor as one might swing on a rope or trapeze, maintaining momentum while sling-shotting around the asteroid. It all depended on making sure that not too much strain was put on the high-tension anchor cable.

Lee felt the ship begin to swing. He winced at the sound of metal straining, wondering what the yard crew would say when they got back to base.

 _If_ they got back to base.

* * *

Cagalli strode back onto the Minerva's bridge with Athrun at her heels. She was nervous about Mwu going into battle again, especially since this time he would undoubtedly face those Gundams. Still, his skill and experience as a pilot would likely keep him safe. But still, as any soldier could testify to, luck played a huge part in deciding who lived and who died on the battlefield. She could only hope that Haumea was watching over them.

And that was when she realized where they were. She had heard they were in the debris belt; but here?

Looming before was the ruin of Heleopolis, Orb's orbital colony lost during the war and birthplace of the Gundams. She felt the overpowering urge to sit down and slid into a seat near Chairman Durandal. Part of her wondered if he had deliberately kept their likely confrontation zone a secret from her, to shake her and gain some foothold, though for what purpose she could not say; yet another reason to hate these damnable games that some politicians played. Another part of her bowed her head and thought of the tragedy that had unfolded there; thankfully casualties had been relatively light thanks to a combination of the colony's safety systems and much of the population having left it for Earth as the war in space intensified. And a small part of her also was occupied with noting Athrun's reaction. He held himself partially responsible for the event, even though his actual role in the destruction had been minimal. In fact, the alarms signaling the ZAFT attacked had resulted in a pre-emptive evacuation. And he wasn't the only person who blamed himself, as Heleopolis's destruction still featured prominently in her brother's infrequent nightmares.

The Strike was the last mobile suit to launch as it joined up with the mass preceding their mothership as a vanguard. Some were also being kept in the hanger to either serve as a reserve or to protect the _Minerva_ if one or more enemy mobile suits broke through.

"Lower the bridge," the captain ordered. "Prepare for anti-ship"

Cagalli felt a strange sensation and realized why they had taken a different path to the bridge this time. It apparently could withdraw into an armored compartment. Ingenious. Several times during the previous war, the _Archangel_ had nearly been destroyed by attacks aimed at the bridge and keeping it defended would help improve their combat capabilities. Their descent came to a halt into the larger room from last time that also accommodated the combat information center. The Vice-Captain floated over to an empty chair and took command of the CIC.

"Target maintaining course; distance: 4700 kilometers," one of the bridge officers reported.

"Ma'am we are ready to engage _Bogey One,_ " the second-in-command reported as his handed blurred over his console, issuing orders for the entire ship from a single station.

"Open fire as soon as we come into effective range."

" _Bogey One,_ " a voice said contemplatively. "We call it that, but I wonder what its name is, its true name. A name reflects its owner's nature. Aggression, compassion, mournful. So much can be determined by a name."

Cagalli was wondering what on Earth he was going on about. She had heard that Durandal was considered something of a philosopher, but there seemed to be no point to his monologue.

"But what if the name was merely a fake. If something goes by a false name, would it mean that thing is fake, false by nature?"

Suddenly, Cagalli felt a growing pit of dread that her stomach dropped down into. _'Could he… But how?'_

"Is that what it would mean, Alex?"

By now, most of the crew seemed to be paying partial attention to their head of state's almost whimsical tone.

"Or, is it Athrun Zala?"

And then everything went silent, not a finger clicked on a keyboard. It was though all attention in the room and the tension from the impending fight were drawn into the three individuals at the back of the bridge. At least until the Vice-Captain reacted.

"WHAT?"

 **Author's Note: Okay, time for an apology. Namely for this chapter being a week late. This was because this chapter had been completed prior to me beginning my posting pattern. I was going over it a couple days before posting when I realized that I was allocating far too much screen time to my OC Alfrid. The parts that are currently in Shinn's and Luna's PoVs were originally told by Alfrid so there was a little too much focus on him; not good for an OC. So I basically had to rewrite about half the fanfic and my family was visiting, further limiting my writing time. So my apologies for this being so late. The next chapter should be up on time though. Probably also didn't help that I had spent a fair amount of time earlier in the month working on preliminary work for a possible pair of Naruto stories.**

 **As always, please leave a review telling me what you liked and what you disliked. If my story isn't working for you, I can't improve without knowing what I'm doing wrong. And don't be shy about sending a PM my way, I'm always glad to talk about what I'm doing in my stories.**


	4. Phase Four: Familiar

**Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam do you really think I'd waste my time writing this as a fanfic story or produce it as an actual series?**

Phase Four: Familiar

"Alright everyone, let's take this nice and slow," Alfrid ordered over the comm system as the cloud of mobile suits spread out in front of the _Minerva_ like a protective shield, with some falling back to pre-assigned guard positions on the ship's hull. "We've got them cornered and they won't be doing anymore running today once we're thru with them."

A string of acknowledgements solidified their feelings on the matter. Everyone was pumped and ready to finally get into a good solid fight with the enemy that had assaulted ZAFT. They had two personal losses to avenge and they were going to do it or die trying.

"Prepare to separate," Alfrid reminded everyone as the mobile suits gathered into three distinct groups; one based around him and Luna, one around La Flaga, and a third around Shinn and Sam.

All three would proceed through the Debris Field along different courses and time themselves to hit _Bogey One_ in sequence. First his group directly behind, then Shinn's group from the port flank, and finally La Flaga would sweep in to finish off any remaining resistance. The _Minerva_ would be right behind them to provide supporting fire and to make disabling strikes. Rey was leading the mobile suits arrayed in its defense to make sure the ship was not completely unguarded.

He looked out his viewing screens and saw the formation doing exactly that as Shinn and Sam splintered off to the left and La Flaga's group fell back, far enough to not be caught in a fight if _Bogey One_ countered Alfrid's group, but close enough to get involved if they were needed. And then they had to begin taking mild evasive maneuvers to avoid the masses of junk, ranging in size from that of a man, to chunks as big as one of the _Minerva's_ turrets. Still, they kept a basic formation as they followed the indicators that would lead them right to _Bogey One_.

"Damnit," Luna muttered over the comm system.

"You alright?" he queried.

"I'm fine. I just hated the debris simulations. Never did get a very good score on those things."

"Not really sure anyone was fond of them," Alfrid noted, neglecting to mention that he had enjoyed them to a minor extent since all the cover made it an excellent place for him to utilize his melee skills. "And you still scored fairly well in the Hector Scenario."

"I suppose."

Privately, Alfrid let out a shudder. The Hector Scenario was based off one of the early space encounters between ZAFT and the EA's new Strike Daggers. Four _Nazca_ -class ships had stumbled upon what they thought had been a crippled _Agamemnon_ , the _Hector_ , in the Debris Field. Unfortunately, it had been a trap and dozens of hostile mobile suits had sprung out in ambush. It had been a total loss, save for a couple mobile suits that had managed to escape, and had broken the myth of ZAFT's orbital invincibility.

Like their current situation, it had taken place on the edge of the Debris Field and had been turned into one of the hardest simulation runs. Even Alfrid's own proclivity for debris battlefields hadn't help him earn more than a 510 out of 700. It didn't help that many of the AI-controlled ZAFT pilots were programmed for aggression that tended to result with them being destroyed only minutes into the battle. Luna actually held one of the best scores in it, only being edged out by Shinn, Greg, and a couple others.

"Hey don't worry. I'm pretty sure that most of the people we have with us won't just rush forward and get killed. I'd wager we only lose the twins and not have to deal with their pranks anymore."

Two noises of displeasure came over the comm lines as Sean and Dale made their dislike of those comments known, though they were drowned out by the chorus of laughter. Alfrid for his part went back to observing a screen detailing the positions of the various ZAFT units and the plotted location for _Bogey One_. Everything looked to be in order, though something was niggling at the back of his mind. But he just chalked it up to pre-combat jitters. At least they wouldn't have to wait for hours on end for the fighting to begin. In fact

"Anyone have a visual? We should be practically on top of it by now."

A smattering of "negative"s, "no sir"s, "nope"s, and a "I'd be preparing to blast it if I did" from Luna confirmed his suspicions.

"Looks like it activated that friggin' cloaking device, I'm going to call the _Minerva_. Meyrin, do you copy?"

"Confirmed," the younger Hawke sister's slightly distorted voice answered. "Situation?"

"We're ready for action but our target appears to be using its camouflage system. I'm asking the captain for leave to activate more in-depth scanning protocals to see if we can getting a targeting read on this thing."

"Hang on," she replied. "Okay Alfrid, Captain Gladys has given-"

Whatever else Meyrin was going to say was lost as a deadly red beam of energy scorched through their formation and the transmission was lost among a stream of panicked exclamations. And then they broke in every direction as another beam lanced forward and annihilated a Warrior.

"Scatter go evasive and don't stop. Wait for reinforcements and engage with numerical superiority," Alfrid commanded as he sent his ZAKU into a corkscrew "down". "La Flaga, Shinn, we've been ambushed and need all mobile to converge on our position."

With that, he temporarily deactivated his transmitter. "Hold on everyone, help is on the way, I hope."

He saw the green shape of Chaos streak past nearby and fired a wild volley of bolts in its wake even as he pulled a near one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn with a diameter barely bigger than the length of his mobile suit.

* * *

Gil's announcement had left the entire bridge stunned. Virtually the every member of the CIC had twisted around to view what was going on. Talia was honestly inclined to believe he should have known better. They were about to head into a combat situation and now virtually the entire command crew would be distracted by the bombshell he had dropped.

"Chairman he's not Athrun Zala," the Orb Representative declared. Though the strident tone and her moving to intersperse herself between Gilbert and her bodyguard gave little to back up this statement.

Gladys shook off her stupefaction at Gil's unusual boldness. She knew that the young man was Athrun Zala, with Luna having to come to her the previous evening and giving an account of the Representative and her bodyguards, though she had no clue why Gil felt the need to dredge it up like this. Instead she just focused on her job. "What is _Bogey One's_ current course?"

The query jolted the focus back into the crewmen though occasional glances were still thrown towards the back of the room. Arthur, despite his earlier outburst, was one of the few that had at least maintained a degree of focus and gave a prompt answer. "They're maintaining a steady course along our heading. It appears that they may be experiencing engine problems; their speed is decreasing marginally."

"Very well. Weapon status?"

"Isolde is loaded and ready to fire on command, port Tristan is registering at one hundred percent potential output, starboard is at ninety-seven, CIWS at ninety-nine percent effectiveness, all missile tubes have been loaded with Neidhardts. We're ready for them captain."

"There's nothing to be concerned about Representative Athha, I'm not accusing him of anything," Gilbert spoke in a reassuring tone.

Talia idly wondered why he had chosen this moment to bring up such a thing, but she had more important things to focus on, like the upcoming battle. The fact that their enemy kept retreating on the same heading was influencing her to guess that it was sowing the larger pieces of scrap with mobile suits as it passed them. Though no scanners had any success at confirming this.

"I'm well aware of the events of the previous war and I feel that many of his actions were guided by the appropriate decisions. It's just that if we're going to talk, I'd prefer to make sure I was talking to the real you. And I felt you would appreciate the honesty Representative Athha, give your well-known dislike for political games."

"Ma'am, our mobile suits have closed to within maximum range for Orthos bombardment. Alfrid is requesting permission for active scanning, he is reporting no visual and believes the enemy ship is using its cloaking field."

"Authorize it," she responded.

Meyrin began relaying her agreement when she winced and put a hand to her ear. That action was all it took for Gladys to realize something as _Bogey One's_ signature continued to move along its previous course.

"A decoy," another voice rang out alongside hers. And since it came from the back, it was no doubt Athrun Zala.

"Find _Bogey One_. Find that ship!" she demanded as the signature they had been following disappeared mere seconds after her declaration. "Were there any fluctuations in their signal?"

"None of any significance ma'am."

She berated herself internally. They had been too eager to avenge the destruction at Armoury One and now they had lost their prey. Too options presented themselves. The first was that they had gone dark and slipped away, another notch in the pride of ZAFT, slipping in and then away with only the loss of mobile suits and mobile armors against numerous ships and scores of mobile suits. The other option though was far more dangerous for both ships. That _Bogey One_ had rigged itself for minimum detection and was now stalking them. They'd likely know soon enough.

"What about a decrease in energy output? When did they start slowing?"

"Approximately just after passing beneath Heliopolis."

"They're coming up behind us!" their male guest's voice rang out.

Questions bombarded Talia's mind and she whirled around in her seat to order his silence when a proximity sensor went off.

"Ma'am he's right," Heim reported. " _Bogey One_ has appeared directly to our stern. Current distance 500 and closing at a rate of 70 per minute and climbing."

' _Damn it_ ,' she cursed silently. Her palms burst into sweat as she realized the enemy had her completely at bay. The only weapons she had available were the dorsal beam turrets and the missile launchers. They were severely outgunned.

"Dive in close to the surface of Heliopolis. Try to keep us out of the line of fire. Prepare anti-beam depth charges and get our mobile suits back here."

"Ma'am, Alfrid's group was ambushed by the stolen machines," Meyrin interrupted. "He's ordered Shinn's and La Flaga's groups to converge on their location."

"Order Rey's group to stay with the ship."

"Ye- ma'am enemy mobile suits closing fast. Profile suggests Slaughter Daggers equipped with Doppelhorn packs."

"Enemy ship's beam turrets are charging for a firing sequence!"

"Fire countermeasures on my mark."

A few tense seconds passed before she saw the familiar green that any ship's crew member would recognize as a beam turret unleashing its built-up power

"MARK!"

Blooms of light spread specialized debris in their wake, even as the deadly lasers drilled towards them. But _Minerva's_ counter did its job as the attack was noticeably weakened and even partially deflected. Still the ship shuddered under the impact. But she knew her ship and was confident the laminated armor could withstand the weakened strike. Still…

"Damage report!"

"Hull integrity is total. No structural damage. Two CIWS turrets were lost."

"This isn't over yet. How long until we break line of sight? "

"Forty seconds."

She gripped the arm of her seat to maintain her composure. Those would likely be some of the longest forty seconds of any of their lives. And then the ship began shuddering from projectile strikes as the enemy mobile suits made their presence known.

* * *

Alfrid raced through the Debris Field as his fellows did likewise, everyone jinking and jiving to evade the Gundams that weaved among them with an almost casual ease. No one else had died, but most had suffered one degree of damage or another and not one of their attacks had even scratched their opponents. It was if they were able to sense any attack that was made against them and know precisely how to dodge it. He glanced over and saw Tristan Lance's bright orange ZAKU Phantom being pursued by something that made his heart stop.

The Legend was on the battlefield.

Steadying his breathing, he drew out both composite swords from their storage within his shields. If he remembered correctly, the recent anti-ship swords, like the composite swords of the GOUF had been developed to be able to cut through the repelling field of second generation beam sabers, temporarily reducing their length and allowing an attack to pass through any attempt at parrying. He could only hope that the beams of his swords would be strong enough to be proof against blows from such an irresistible weapon.

"Tristan, I'm your wing," he snapped out as he came down towards the hunter and hunted.

Tristan pulled a hard veer right towards him and Alfrid swung his right blade. But a sheet of energy unfolded in front of it and the mobile suit batted his attack aside with contemptuous ease. He let out a soft curse at forgetting the powerful shielding system, but he had no time to dwell on it or think of a counter as his opponent was suddenly all over him.

It was like nothing he had ever faced. Every blow, every parry, every dodge, every movement he made seemed to be countered with a strength and speed that left his cockpit trembling around him. Even the commander had never made him feel this hopelessly outclassed. And then the Legend began to attack him. Bit by bit, Alfrid lost ground. First one of his composite swords was lost when the Legend revealed that some genius had decided to make its anti-ship sword double-edged. An attempt to gain distance with a thrown beam tomahawk was stopped by one of its beam boomerangs that then took off his left leg. A blast from the beam cannon spun him out of control and scorched most of his right shield. A voice seemed to start whispering something, but he didn't hear anything. But it was there.

' _Despair and die_.'

' _Despair and die._ '

' _Despair and die_.'

The Legend filled his viewing screen. And he knew Death had come for him. His heart froze. But, descending like one of the Aesir down the Bifrost came an orange mass that rammed in to it and bought him new life.

"Close one Alfrid," came Tristan's voice.

A flash of pink light saw the anti-ship sword slice off both the orange ZAKU's weapon-ladened arms. It jetted away desperately, but was annihilated beyond a doubt by the massive beam cannon that its terrible foe brought to bear. And now that monster turned back towards him.

' _Despair and die_.'

Every instinct in his body was telling him to run and that was what he did, even shifting power from his phase-shift just to add more to the thrusters. And the Legend was hot on his trail.

' _Despair and die_.'

A volley of bolts played all over and it took every ounce of his piloting skill to block and dodge the lethal strikes.

' _Despair and die_.'

Both beam boomerangs curved around him in deadly arcs; the first was deflected, but the second took a beam saber.

' _Despair and die_.'

A flare of light in his rear warned him that the Gundam had activated its Voiture Lumiere field and was now closing even faster.

' _Despair and die_.'

The afterimages spun around him as he threw the ZAKU into a series of desperate maneuvers that caused shadows to surround his vision.

' _Despair and die_.'

He was dead.

' _Despair and_ …'

Suddenly the oppressive feeling cut out with a massive surge of light and a force that blasted him away. Then red and yellow streaks cut across his vision and impacted on his near-executioner, though did little damage thanks to its shields. Alfrid let out gasps of relief as his saviors were revealed.

The Strike held its anti-ship sword in a block against that of the Legend. And the Impulse, dyed green by its Blast module hovered right in front of him. That was twice in two days that he was thankful for Shinn Asuka. If he kept that up, he might actually end up liking the other pilot.

"Are you alright Alfrid?" Shinn's voice came over the calm, not even a trace of sarcasm or condescending tone.

"I'm fine," Alfrid responded, though he truly wondered. "Thanks for the save."

"We have this guy and the rest of the ZAKUs are right behind us. See if you can get one of the other Gundams."

"Right," Alfrid returned, not even bothered by how Shinn was sounding more like an officer than he was at that moment. "Becareful, this is no ordinary pilot. And that is a nuclear Gundam."

As though punctuating his statement, the Legend broke away from its clash with the Strike and began zipping back and forth searching for a weakness at a speed that the older mobile suit could barely match.

"Understood, good luck sir."

With that, Alfrid sped away, leaving the three Gundams to begin a ferocious clash. As he moved away, he realized that his face was wet. He snapped open the face plate to wipe away the sweat and that was when he realized just how badly his hands were shaking. He also discovered that it wasn't just sweat covering his face. Tears had apparently been streaming down his cheeks. In those moments as Death had reached for him, he had nearly broken. The simple truth, that he had given in to fear, made him realize that how desperately he had been outclassed. And that feeling…

He glanced out his rear monitors, debating whether or not to return to the fight. One the one hand, another mobile suit would mean one more enemy for the nuclear Gundam to face. On the other, he would be stumbling into a battle between Gundams, and in his suit's damaged state, he would likely do little more than get in the way and force his allies to expend effort defending him. And that was when three streak of green made the decision for him.

' _Oh what now_?' he moaned internally.

He found the source of the attacks easily enough. The Gaia was speeding towards him and he had the nerve-wracking feeling that it remembered the injury he had dealt it and he had but one response.

"Oh fuck me," he groaned, once again in a desperate flight from an enemy easily his superior.

This fact was made all the more clear by the warnings that flashed across his console, still tallying the damage his mobile suit had taken in the nightmarish fight with the Legend. At least this foe he knew he could fight if pressed. Though at the present, he preferred to find some way to leverage the odds to a much greater degree in his favor. A sickly sound from his thrusters did little to improve his darkening mood.

The Gaia bore down on him like a hound seeking the blood of a fox. A true comparison give that he had tricks as numerous as those of the clever creatures his father and he had once delighted in hunting.

' _What irony delights in tormenting me with_ ,' he pondered.

But still, his skills were sufficient as the predatory Gundam nearly ran him down before he threw all power to the right thrusters. In his place, he had left behind two grenades. The dual explosions erupted from beneath the belly of the mechanized beast and it briefly escaped his sight. The gases disappeared to reveal it nearly unmanaged, but it definitely seemed to have been handled a bit roughly. If nothing else it had drained some of the energy powering its protective phase-shift. It charged forward once more, but with just enough hesitation to give him the advantage and take the initiative.

Quick as a striking cobra, a beam saber lanced out with the Gaia barely halting and reversing enough to spare it damage. Both parties stood tensed, taking the measure of each other, a standoff interrupted as the quadruped threw itself to the side mere seconds before a crimson river of destruction unleashed it's fury upon the metallic surface where it had crouched. Even the near-miraculous dodge was not enough to spare it in totality. The right forepaw had been melted into slag and was now more hindrance than an aid in free movement. Alfrid glanced up to find who had likely just saved his life and was not at all surprise to see Luna's Red ZAKU Phantom hovering several kilometers away, its Orthos cannon retracting to the ready position behind it as the mobile suit dove.

"Looks like I saved you his time Alfrid," her joking voice came over the comm line.

"Eh, I'll have you in my debt again sooner or later in all likelihood," he bantered back playfully. "What do you say we tear this clown apart?"

The Gaia, now in mobile suit mode, came charging forward, beam saber held high. With a surface, cracking landing, Luna took a position ahead and to his right, drawing her beam tomahawk.

"Let's."

* * *

Rey knew something had gone wrong as soon as a handful of distorted, panicked cries came over the comm channel. It seemed that their foe had laid a trap. Not completely unexpected, but what was were the sudden maneuvers that the _Minerva_ began going through.

"Magnetize," he snapped to the squad of mobile suits at his command. Several of them took a few seconds to position themselves near outlets that would allow them to charge their weapons directly from the ship itself. A useful feature when equipped with energy draining weapons like the Orthos beam cannon and the rotary cannons of the Slash pack.

And that was when he beheld _Bogey One_ diving on them like a predatory bird. Beneath their feet, the _Minerva_ lurched and dipped in closer to the ruins of Heliopolis. Beam of light lanced out from their pursuer, but did no damage that he noticed. Unfortunately, that was in part because he saw the mobile suits heading their way.

"Rey," Meyrin's voice came over the comm line. "Those incoming mobile suits are equipped with Dopplehorns."

"Understood," he responded with his usual firm composure. Though a part of him was both fearful and annoyed.

The mobile suits assigned to staying on station with the _Minerva_ for his battle had been configured for an anti-ship fight. Meaning their primary task would've been to shoot down missiles, leaving the actual task of engaging the enemy ship to the forward mobile suits and the weapons of the _Minerva_ herself. As a consequence, and according to standard ZAFT doctrine, he and most of the other with him had elected to use Blaze Wixard Packs. While excellent for countering enemy missile strikes and, to a lesser extent, mobile suits that came in closer, they were less than ideal for tackling threats with long-range capabilities. That would have to rest with the sole member of his unit who had a Gunner Wizard Pack with its powerful Orthos cannon. Unfortunately, while a decent enough shot, Robert Lock was not at the same level as Lunamaria, as six shots with no results could attest to.

A few seconds later, their opponents opened fire and the shells of their powerful cannons began to slam into the _Minerva_. Still, the armor was currently more than up to the task thanks to running a new system very akin to phase-shift. Unfortunately, the sheer size of the _Minerva_ meant it could not be run forever and would sooner or later exceed the energy allotted to it. Their job was to try to prevent that from happening as the mobile suits countered in the small ways that they could, shooting at the distance targets in the blackness of space.

"Gil is on this ship. I will not allow you to destroy it and our future," he pledge solemnly as he fired a volley of missiles at an incoming artillery round while tracking another with his beam rifle. He pulled the trigger and both rounds detonated before reaching their target.

"Damnit!" someone swore over the comm line.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw George Erwin, one of two pilots who had elected to use the Slash pack forcibly eject his now-ruined heavy equipment, evidently the victim of a skillfully fired shot. It appeared that even the mass-produced mobile suits that the enemy were using had skilled pilots directing them.

And then he saw something that gave even himself pause, a volley of missiles heading right towards them, though something seemed off about them. He didn't quite see what until they began crashing into the walls of Heliopolis and showering the _Minerva_ in rubble. And part of that rubble came crashing down right on top of Robert Lock. When it cleared, all that remained of the Gunner ZAKU Warrior was debris. And once more, the enemy mobile suits resumed their bombardment, now unimpeded.

* * *

Shinn was starting to wonder exactly how powerful the Legend Gundam was. He and the La Flaga guy had been dancing around it for over ten minutes and had failed to make even a scratch. In contrast, Shinn had needed to detach both missile pods from the Blast Module right after a beam boomerang had cleaved through them and sent them on a runaway detonation. The Strike had also lost the maneuvering booster and beam cannon of its Ootari pack. And a ZAKU Warrior that had attempted to help them had scored the only damaging hit on the monstrous machine and had been cleaved in half for its troubles. Needless to say, things weren't looking good.

But the worst part was the ominous feeling that growing in his gut. As it spread, he seemed to almost feel as if a cloud of evil was spreading from the machine they were fighting. He wondered if it was some insane weapon the damn thing had, but La Flaga didn't seem to be effected at all and he had spent pretty much the entire fight in close combat with the Legend. And that was when he swore he felt a voice started whispering in his mind.

' _Despair and die_.'

The first note of it made him look wildly around the cockpit and try to determine if the enemy had found his comm frequency and was deliberately trying to psyche him out. That had been a noted quality of those psychos in the last war. But this time, it seemed something _more_. And suddenly, the Legend was all around him.

Part of his mind knew it was in part due to the specialized system that the mobile suit ran. But that didn't stop the feeling of being overwhelmed. He pushed the mobile suit to its limits to keep from being destroyed, and it was barely enough. Shinn felt as though some doom was looming ever closer.

' _Despair and die_. _Like your sister_.'

He nearly stopped right there. And down came the blade of the Legend. Fortunately, that was when the Strike managed to intersperse itself between the two again. But to Shinn, the damage was done. And then it was gone. All he could do was float there in the void, shaking himself back to the battle long enough to realize that only ZAFT suits wer left and they were heading towards the _Minerva_. He saw Rey was trying to query him, but he ignored it.

' _What the hell was that_?' he thought.

* * *

Proximity alarms howled as missiles closed in.

"Brace for impact."

"Ma'am, something is off about the missile's trajectory," Heim called from his station. "Projections show them striking the asteriod's surface."

"They're trying to collapse the trench," the bodyguard warned again.

"Ten degrees to port," she snapped.

Malik, trained as he had been to respond to commands, did so without thinking. They jumped away from the trench they had been using as cover just in time to see masses of rubble collapse their passage, with some of it flying out to strike at them. The maneuver had been just tight enough to get them out of the danger without exposing them directly to the enemy ship. While grateful, she still turned around to shoot a glare at the young man.

For his part, he looked abashed at speaking out, but his eyes still flickered about, taking in the situation. She supposed she shouldn't be too surprised. His academy grades were still considered to be the best ever scored in many areas and he had over a year of combat experience where he had been the leader of an independent team on several occasions. It did explain why Yzak Joule, a mind she knew to be brilliant in mobile suit tactics, always spoke highly of his former commander.

Suddenly the ship rocked with a terrible ferocity. For a brief moment, it felt like the ship would tear itself apart from the shaking. And then for a split second, all was quite. It disappeared in a howling of alarms and babbling voices as a dozen stations gave their reports.

"Starboard catapult offline. Starboard main engines offline. Starboard _Tristan_ and tubes inoperative."

"Engineering reports reactor is stable. Power distribution seriously compromised."

"Medical reports heavy casualties."

"Hull ruptures on all decks to Starboard. Ruptured compartments confirmed sealed. Multiple fires on deck seven through fifteen. Fire crews report fires are contained."

"What the hell was that?" she demanded only to receive not a note of acknowledgement. Whatever that attack had been, no one had seen it coming. For a brief second, she wondered if they had narrowly escaped a nuclear strike.

"Ma'am," Meyrin reported in. "Rey just spotted a second group of mobile suits passing our stern, Slaughter Daggers in Launcher configuration. They must have been what attacked us."

She dizzily wondered just how many times she was going to blunder from one trap to another. The majority of her pilots had been sent on a wild goose chase and were now being tied down by the captured machines. Her ship had been ambushed by the very foe they were pursuing. And now it seemed as though her every move was being anticipated. Their only hope was to buy time for their mobile suits to fight their way free of the Gundams and return in time.

"Ma'am we're still being pounded by those mobile suits and the enemy ship will enter a firing arc in one-hundred-and-eighty seconds," Arthur updated her, panic beginning to seep into his voice.

"Doesn't the ship carry anymore machines?" Gilbert spoke for the first time since revealing Athrun Zala's identity. Something she was still tempted to ask an explanation for.

"We're out of pilots," she snapped back, resisting the temptation to suggest the young man sitting with him. While La Flaga had volunteered, the other bodyguard had not, and there was an intensity to his posture that told her plainly he would not being leaving the Chief Representative's side. Instead, she would swallow her pride and use what resources she had.

"Any ideas?" she inquired, keeping any trace of sarcasm to a minimum.

He looked doubtful for a second before an idea seemed to almost blossom in his eyes. "What's the yield on our countermeasures?"

"What good will knowing that do?" Arthur demanded from his station, but Talia already realized what he had in mind.

"Sufficient," she answered, ignoring Arthur's shock. "Abby, order the next set of countermeasures rigged for timed delay and then proximity detonation. They're to be fired directly to our stern. Arthur I want the Neidharts to be contact armed and launched at the exact moment our countermeasures engage. Malik, put us into a slow roll, make us seem like we've taken a mortal blow. We'll use our trump card."

"But ma'am-" Arthur began protesting.

"Just do it," she commanded. If this worked then _Bogey One_ would be the one crippled and they should be able to easily recapture the Gundams, even the nuclear one if its pilot overused certain systems.

* * *

Lee felt more than a small sense of triumph as the stricken ZAFT ship exposed its belly. Despite his misgivings, Roanoke's plan had worked. Every scanner showed their weapon systems as either disabled or unpowered. The _Minerva_ was totally at their mercy. Some part of him wanted to close with the disabled ship and board it. Between the ship itself, the mobile suits, and potential prisoners, it would be the greatest victory the EA had likely ever achieved. They had lost only mobile suits and mobile armors and had inflicted a blow upon ZAFT at least the equal to any that ZAFT had dealt themduring the last war.

"Alright, move in, let's finish this," he ordered.

"Enemy is launching countermeasures!" the tactical officer reported as they closed to the perfect range to deal a final death blow.

A last gasp of defiance no doubt, or an attempt to buy time.

"Status of their weapons?"

"No change!"

Evidently they weren't trying anything. If they meant to fire the beam cannons, the energy spike as they fed power into the capacitors, or even straight into the guns, would have been detectable by now.

"Were those countermeasures duds?" Roanoke spoke up from beside him, what little of his face that was visible formed into a small frown.

"Uh, they haven't detonated yet," one bridge officer reported.

"Where are they," the masked man demanded, a note of alarm in his voice. And then Lee realized why.

"They're… heading right for-!"

Suddenly, the space-black sky was lit up by a series of explosions. No one on the bridge could see anything as they were blinded by the light, as were, far more importantly, their sensors.

"Evade!" Lee bellowed. "Raise bow forty and twenty to starboard!"

And that was when the _Minerva's_ counter struck home.

The _Minerva_ had a unique series of missiles readied purposely for her. While only having eight launchers, each launcher fired a special missile that divided into four. Thus, without having to dedicate room to a large number of launchers, _Minerva_ could loose a single volley of warhead sufficient for devastating an entire fleet. And half of this quantity was now concentrated against a single target.

Unguided as they were, to prevent their signals from chasing the flares of the countermeasures, several inevitably missed and others were shot down or hit to no affect. Two crashed into and were deflected by armored bulkheads, their explosions doing little more than scorching the side of the _Girty Lue_. Another penetrated into the starboard hanger, but failed to detonate with a second dud lodging in several decks directly below the bridge. But enough made their impact known.

Two smashed into the lower starboard turret and annihilated it, with thick armor preventing a more catastrophic explosion. Three more made shallow impacts around the port side and weakened the armor's integrity. A sixth missile struck the ship directly amidships and knocked the artificial gravity offline. And a final hit came within meters of damaging the port engines while still disabling the relative Valient.

Then the ship nearly broke as a storm of fire washed over its port side. When it receded, that entire side of the ship was a holocaust. All three Gottfrieds were demolished and much of its CIWS system had been annihilated.

Lee was wondering what could have caused such destruction when he caught sight of the _Minerva_. Fromit's "vulnerable" underside, a host of weapons had been deployed. Two triple cannons of the type on the ship's dorsal centerline, two more beam cannon turrets, and two Valiant-type weapons had folded out from the wings and appeared to have fields of fire through virtually an entire hemisphere. Lee knew when he was outmatched and this was it.

"We're withdrawing," he snapped out, fortunately there was no severe damage to the engines and the same could not be said for their opponent. "Have all mobile suits fall back in our wake."

As the orders were relayed, he slammed his fist onto his armrest and cursed ZAFT's unpredictability. Somehow, they had managed to hide over half their ship's weapon systems. He supposed he should be thankful they hadn't had a second positron cannon mounted down there. If they had, it was very likely that their ship would have been near-annihilated. As it was, they would be spending the next week or so making repairs. And then he realized his co-commander had a small smile.

"Well, that was unexpected."

Lee was tempted to smack the younger man, but held his temper in check.

"I expect they were intending that to be some final trump card. And now we know about it." Then he shifted to a more commanding tone. "Order temporary repairs as quickly as possible, tell the damage control teams they are to focus on minimizing the signature our damage will indicate on scanners."

Lee looked at him as though he had gone mad. But before he could voice his concerns, Neo gazed at him through the specialized lenses of his helmet.

"What sane commander would stick around after his ship was virtually destroyed beneath him, advanced cloaking or not?"

Lee was forced to concede the point.

"So, we stay on station until the ZAFT ship withdraws?"

"Yes, it should also give us an effective way to gauge the efficiency of that ship's damage control and repair capabilities."

Nodding in understanding, Lee internally agreed.

* * *

Not for the first time, Luna truly was amazed by how skilled Alfrid was in mobile suit melee combat. By all rights, his damaged machine had no business keeping up with her, let alone the Gundam they were facing down. But somehow, whenever he got into a beam saber duel, he always seemed to know just how to maneuver his machine to make even the somewhat bulky ZAKU almost dance. As it was, he was flickering along the edge of the battle, acting as a counter to restrain the Gaia while she kept up the direct pressure. Finally, he seemed to have provoked it enough to over reach. Alfrid's ZAKU seemed to practically skip out of the way (though that may have had more to do with the fact that it lacked a leg), before gracefully turning back to sheer a segment of its arm's armor off.

That was when Luna struck. Powering the beam tomahawk to unsafe levels, she drove it downwards to cleave deep into the shield and then left it there. A second later it detonated, the brief wisp of smoke dissipated to reveal the shield was heavily damaged. And apparently the Gaia's pilot had decided they had done more than enough and jetted away from the two red coats. A moment later, the other stolen mobile suits joined in the withdrawal, racing away from their ambush site. A trio of flares were alight in the distance, and judging from the lack of confirmation signal, it was _Bogey One_ that had called it quits.

"Looks like that's over with," Alfrid called her over the comm. But something sounded almost _wrong_ with his voice. Shaken even. "Let's head back to the _Minerva_ , mind acting as my wing?"

"No prob," she agreed.

And soon they weren't the only ones heading back as the rest of the task force also drifted back in twos and threes. Pretty much everyone had been damaged to one degree or another, but miraculously, despite the ambush and being completely outclassed, they had only lost three mobile suits, one Phantom and two Warriors. It was hard to call such a thing a victory, but they had endured the worst possible situation and had given the enemy mobile suits a fight to remember them by. She'd take what she could get after surviving that nightmare.

And that was when she realized that something frightful had happened while they were gone. The entire starboard side of the ship was now battle-scarred, sme damage appeared to be from projectiles and debris crashing into her and other wounds were obviously inflicted by beam weapons. Given just how armored the ship's catapults were, it was grim testament to what she had fought through that they were only taking in mobile suits via the port catapult. But seeing as how _Bogey One_ was the one currently fleeing she supposed that her shipmates had given as good as they had gotten. And as though highlighting this, she caught sight of the ventral armaments deployed. That would be sufficient firepower to give any foe pause.

Since they could only board threw one side of the ship, the going was slow as each mobile suit landed and was brought into the hanger. Though this was aided thanks to the fact that the catapult decks were sufficient for several mobile suits to stand in. It was compliment to the skill of the maintenance crew and the efficiency of the ship's equipment that the work took only about half-an-hour. Since her mobile suit was the least damaged, she was one of the last to board, a couple suits before their Gundams. Even as she opened her hatch, the repairmen were already hard at work going over virtually every mobile suit to replace the damaged components and make sure each suit was in prime fighting condition as soon as possible.

"Luna," a familiar voice rang out and she saw her cousin practically fly at her with Sean and Dale floating behind her, identical bemused smiles of their faces.

"We kicked Chaos's fucking ass!" Aurora roared excitedly, pumping her arm in emphasis.

"Oh?" Luna remarked, not doubting it for a second. While her cousin did not wear the same red coat that she did, Aurora's skills were still easily at that level. What had restrained her rank though was the somewhat non-military attitude and a lack of a decent study ethic. Still, everyone knew that she had the ability to back up her boasting and she had commonly taken the lead in many a simulator run.

"So what happened?"

"Cheap bastard came after me thinking I was easy prey because I was just a Warrior instead of a fancy Phantom. Then I blocked his claws with a swipe of my falx and he was backing away when I gouged out a piece of his shield with my axe. He run like a whimp and tried blasting me. Nearly got me a couple time too. That was when these ladies showed up. Took some fancy maneuvering, but Sean was finally able to put a notch in the gunpods and we were just- "

"AHHHHHHH!"

The horrendous scream grabbed everyone attention and directed it towards the Impulse. Or rather the figure half outside the suit. Shinn was shaking and seemed to almost be trying to rip his flight suit off as he stumbled outside of the Gundam. A medical team swarmed him with complicated babble that she could only half-follow. But the gist of it seemed to be that Shinn was unharmed, but having some kind of breakdown. While the fact that Shinn wasn't the most stable individual was well-known, she never figured he'd be one of the first to snap because of combat. But when she saw a pale-faced Mwu La Flaga following them, she wondered if it was something more. Perhaps that had to do with the nuclear Gundam that they had been fighting.

That was when she noticed Alfrid, despite ostensibly being their commander and responsible for their unit and its equipment, had disappeared. Come to think of it, she hadn't heard his voice issuing any orders. And that begged the question as to where the hell was he.

* * *

Heliopolis was not the only ruined colony to float freely in the Debris Field. Some were there because time had worn away at them. Others were the ravaged remains of attempts to build one that had failed, seeing their mother countries driven into the arms of the superpowers to find some way to pay off their debt. A fair few were there after some unopposed asteroid or comet had destroyed them. Those few that were not here from those circumstance all had the same reason in common: War. Whether it be the terrible Reconstruction Wars, the minor squabbles between the superpowers, or the nightmare that had unfolded after Bloody Valentine, all had seen colonies and their inhabitants become casualties. Bu there was one hulk that held a special distinction, the twisted fragments of Junius Seven.

The colony of Junius Seven had been one of ten that had made up the "city" of Junius, home to the focus of agricultural science and social engineering. For this reason, it had been an ideal choice to convert to food production when the PLANTs fought to gain their independence. And this had also made it a prime target in the aftermath of the Copernicus bombing. In the last of several demonstrations of force, some would call direct provocations, the _Roosevelt_ had moved forward and deployed its Moebius Zero mobile armors. They had made a pass around the central module of Junius Seven, when a single object had detach from one of the fighters. Suddenly, the object that held the PLANT together was annihilated in a nuclear blast and the population, over a quarter million Coordinators were gone.

That incident had stunned both sides, but soon all had realized that there could be no negotiation after such an atrocity. The Earth Alliance forces deployed to the PLANTs had no capacity to hold off what was to come. ZAFT launched a savage attack that annihilated the near entirety of the blockading fleet with minimal losses of their own. Only a handful of ships, including the _Roosevelt_ had managed to flee the slaughter. And then ZAFT had truly gone to war.

So much blood had been shed over that terrible tragedy. And so many questions. Had the crew of the _Roosevelt_ really not known what they were doing? What about the pilot of the _Moebius_ who fired the deadly shot? Rumours abounded as to his, or in some cases _her_ fate. Some said he had killed himself in a fit of remorse, while others thought he was a Blue Cosmos plant, no doubt proud of what he did. Most likely he had died in battle, like countless others in the war, becoming just another name on some war memorial.

Junius Seven Alpha, the upper half, had been subject to more punishment over the five years the colony had drifted in the Debris Field. But the lower half, Junius Seven Beta, was still almost as intact as the day it had been sent hurtling away from the PLANTs after the nuclear explosion. It had been the ground on which a single plaque had been placed to mark both sides resolve to prevent such a conflict as the one that had nearly driven them all into the final darkness. And now it would serve a new purpose.

So the man thought as he looked upon Junius Seven Beta. It looked to him like some giant overturned jellyfish, with the high-tension cables snaking out behind it like long gossamer fronds. It was anything but absurd, though. To him, it was not a question of national honour, or avenging the murdered innocents. It was more than that, far beyond that. It was _personal_.

"Solar wind velocity is constant," came a familiar voice from the comm. "Estimated thirty seconds until clear level S-three is achieved."

"How is unit nine?" he asked, in a graveled tone.

"It'll be done shortly sir."

The man scanned his eyes over the work. Only someone as close as he was would be able to see his comrades, his brothers and sisters on their final mission. He could see their mobile suits every now and again, moving between the tree-like cables, keeping an eye on the guided robots as they completed their glorious work. The mobile suits were the best, in his opinion at least. ZGMF-1017M2 GINN High Maneuver Type II, improved versions of ZAFT's iconic GINN mobile suit. The first mobile suit. The man was grateful to his benefactors for providing them. To him, GINNs were true ZAFT mobile suits, not like the new ZAKUs and GOUFs. Those mechs were tainted, too much like the copycat mobile suits of the Earth Alliance. Better the GINNs, the pure work of free Coordinators.

The man felt a shiver of rage as he thought of what had happened. It was unbearable to him, as it was to his fellows, how weak and corrupt ZAFT had become since Patrick Zala's murder. When that cursed child Athrun Zala had committed an unforgivable patricide. It galled him that he had felt hope, when that snake Gilbert Durandal had swept the traitorous Clyne party aside and assumed power. He had actually believed that Durandal would set things right.

Instead of which, he had set about bending ZAFT to his own dark will. With lies, libels, and dark secrets, he had driven the last true patriots from the ranks of ZAFT, the few who might resist his so-called _reforms_. Reforms that tainted ZAFT with the archaic and sclerotic structures and rituals of the Earth forces, the forces he and his fellows had run ragged so many times. Rank was no longer a privilege to be earned through dedication, but something that was handed out to the unworthy.

The moment he dared voice his concerns, his so-called comrades had begun to whisper behind his back. _Nationalist_ , to his face. _Fascist,_ they muttered when they thought he could not hear. But it was the last that he sought and loved. _Zalaite_. What they called him in disgust, he would wear with pride. To bear Patrick Zala's name was no disgrace, for the path he had set out was the right one. They must either remake the world for their children, or else be utterly destroyed.

"Presence of colloidal particles confirmed," came the voice again. "Permission to start countdown."

The man did not hesitate. There could be no going back.

"Initiate countdown."

"Initiating countdown." He could see one of the robots nearby, standing over what appeared to be a black slab set into the central column. It reached out with insectile legs, pressing the buttons on the enormous keypad, the numbers shifting on the screen.

"Flare motor activation in ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one…nominal particle level achieved…Flare motor activated."

The blue light on the flare motor's screen winked out, replaced by a red glow as the device came online. Within seconds the others did likewise, glowing like malevolent eyes in the darkness.

"Junius Seven has begun to move."

The man raised his GINN's right hand to its head, in mimicry of a salute. He glanced down at his console, where the photographs had been taped. One showed a young woman, eyes bright with joy and hope. Another showed her in the arms of a young man. The third showed that same young man, clad in the green uniform of ZAFT.

"Alan…Christie," the man whispered. "It won't be long now." The man, who had left all but his name behind, looked up at the shape that had haunted his nightmares for five long years. Junius Seven, the symbol of all that he and so many others had lost.

"Now go! Our great tombstone!" Kenta Sato roared, a dark and terrible exultation drowning out his regret. "Fall upon this deceitful world! Fall upon those who have forgotten the cries of sorrow! Fall upon those who deny the truth!"

* * *

Far below on Earth, a small group enjoyed time on a beach in the warmth of an early fall evening. Almost all were children, laughing and running to and fro across the damp sand, in time with the waves that lapped at them and tried in vain to moisten their feet. Among them and watching over all like a vigilant shepherd was a young woman, enjoying the delight of her charges. She looked away from them and back in the direction that they were walking from and towards her lover. He gazed back at her and offered one of his rare smiles, the ones that seemed to show all his cares melt away.

They were both beautiful. The woman's flowing pink hair, graceful figure, ivory white skin, and beauteous air had once had many claiming she was the most wondrous creature in the Earth Sphere. And her companion was no less exquisite with a golden tan and tousled brown hair, violet eyes speaking of the joys and hardships of his time and alive with youth. Some would argue they were supposed to be beautiful, for they were both Coordinators.

And it was declarations like these that could cause doubts. Many who loved Coordinators had to ask themselves just how much of their love was influenced by genetic manipulation. How much had been engineered by those who placed themselves among the divine. But it was not a question either of the couple had ever truly had to ask, for they loved each other for who they were.

The men and women of science who crafted the unborn who would become Coordinators were known for their pride; some saying rightfully so and others remarking on their blasphemy. Whether they be the miraculous or chthonic as described, even they knew what their abilities were. The simplest reasons for having a coordinator, to ensure a healthy child, was a task that almost all could do in their sleep. Sculpting their likeness took only a slight degree more effort. Harnessing various traits was where their abilities shined. And blessing the soon-to-be-born with talents like the goodly creatures of a fairy tale was their mightiest task. But not even the most skillful could give like and dislike form.

A child meant to rival Mozart could find a love in a sport that could cripple such a gift. One meant for the halls of knowledge might find a simple joy in hard work with their hands. A sport prodigy might ignore their body's purpose to follow other pursuits. There were limits to the work of even the greatest minds in the PLANTs, and none of these could claim to engender a personality and it was this that the two prized in one another.

To him, it was her poise and grace; a deep desire for peace; her steadfastness in continuing the work of her martyred father, even as she felt she could shed no tear in front of those who had loved him; and her stern maturity and acceptance, a knowledgeable mind that knew that her words may not reach those who had been lost in darkness. For her, he was brave and calm; an ironwill that was as mighty as his desire to protect; a gentle soul that forgave even those who would wish him the greatest harm; and a love of the simplicity of life, taking joy in it after ending so many. It was love that would endure even when the years had drawn their bodies closer to dust. Kira Yamato loved Lacus Clyne and Lacus Clyne loved Kira Yamato.

They had forged a life for themselves, departing from the world outside the island they now called home, a small place just within the boundaries of Orb. She had longed to leave behind the memories that grieved her, even as many had suggested she take the post of Chairwoman when Canaver's time came to step down. Instead she had settled in her beloved Kira's homeland and had become drawn into the role of foster-mother alongside Kira's own mother, nurturing the war-orphans that Reverend Malchio had gathered to him. And then she and Kira had wed little over two years previously. It was the life she sought to live for the rest of her time in this life, at peace with the world and herself.

But it did not seem like that course would stay.

"Kira?" She looked up at her beloved, who was a little taller than her. His face was grim, his eyes distant. "Kira?"

"Oh, sorry." His face softened as he looked back at her, his frown replaced by a bashful smile. "I was…distracted."

"You were thinking about everything that's happening," Lacus said, her own expression darkening. "You're letting it get to you."

"I can't help it," Kira admitted sadly. "Everything was supposed to get better after Jachin Due, and the new treaty. But now everything's getting worse but for different reasons. I thought the war between Earth and the PLANTs was bad," he went on. "But now it's the Atlantic Federation and Eurasia. I don't know which is worse."

Lacus didn't know either. She understood and shared Kira's frustration at how things were turning out. It was as if no one had really learned anything, as if they had put aside one enmity only to embrace another. She had known things would become tense when the JOSH-A scandal erupted, but not like this.

"It's not our problem," she said, injecting a little force into her tone. "It's not something we can do anything about."

"I know," Kira agreed, still sounding more sad than angry. "I'm mostly worried about Cagalli. We hardly see her anymore."

"She's got a lot to deal with right now." That was an understatement. Visits from Cagalli and Athrun had dropped off noticeably over the past few months, and on the rare occasions when they did show up Cagalli had seemed tired and stressed. Lacus did not envy her position, trying to protect her country in the face of a cataclysm that might destroy human civilization as surely as GENESIS might have. She could tell instinctively that Cagalli was buckling under the strain, and that it was hurting Athrun too.

Lacus wondered at times how things were going to turn out between those two. She longer dared ask when the two of them would find the time to get married, and she suspected they never would, at least not for a while. Cagalli was born to wear a crown, figuratively speaking, and had vowed to her martyred father that she would put Orb's needs above all else. Were he anything less than completely devoted to her, Athrun would have walked away long ago. She felt nothing more than sadness for both her one-time fiancé and her sister-in-law. So much was in their way and at times she doubted if even their stubbornness would be enough. And their relationship, what little could qualify as such, would be strained even further if, perhaps even when, war broke out anew.

As it was, all she could do was pray that Kira's premonitions were wrong. That the hostility engulfing the world would be cooled by something other than the tears of the mournful. But war was all too easy a choice to make. She feared that choice had already been made.

 **Author's Note: Well there you have it chapter four. Sorry if it's a little short, near continuous battle scenes tend to result in that. Also, please raise your hands if you are officially freaked out by Scirocco. Not many observations I have for this chapter so I guess all I can ask is that you guys take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts and post them in a review. The more reviews I get, the more I know that people are legitimately enjoying this story. It'll also help me make corrections that could be needed in the story if I know what people do and don't like. I don't know what I'm doing wrong if no one tells me. Also, it's a pretty heady feeling to have readers from 21 different countries so a big shout-out to my non-USA readers. Especially if English isn't your first language and your still able to make sense of my ramblings. Hopefully I'll see you all next month provided Hurricane Irma doesn't cause any severe problems for me.**

 **Oh almost forgot. If anyone wants to start up a TV tropes page for this story, you might find some sneak peeks and headcanons there courtesy of mwah. Hasta-la-bye-bye.**


	5. Sorry Everyone

Hey guys I have a rather unfortunate announcement to make. I stayed at my place during Irma since the storm didn't seem like it was going to affect me too much. Fortunately the only problem was a power outage. Unfortunately, that outage did something to my computer that saw multiple files become corrupted or disappear. Including the folder where I stored most of my completed chapters. I just got my computer back from Best Buy saying there was nothing they could do. So now I'm missing literal months worth of work. I'm afraid I'll be putting Gundam SEED Ragnarok on hiatus for a while to recoup me losses. Something that is likely to take even longer since I just haven't been in a Gundam writing-mood. I sincerely promise to return to this story eventually. On the upside, if you like my writing style, I'm planning on publishing a new story sometime next month. A little project I've been thinking on and doing the rough work while I waited to see if there was a chance I'd be able to continue Ragnarok. For now, I'll leave you with this hint: Fire, Water, Forest, Earth, Sky.


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